Take Me to Another World
by stewboo
Summary: Lauren met Harry Styles while on a school trip to the UK back in 2008. They immediately clicked and became best friends, but over time they stopped talking. It is now 2011 and Lauren's friend Rachel introduces her to One Direction's music. Lauren gets back in touch with Harry and they are reunited along with Rachel and their other friend Savannah. Who knows what love connections
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

June 2008

I've always wanted to travel the world, and here was my chance to start. I, Lauren Stewart, was traveling around the United Kingdom alone. Well not technically since I was with a group from my middle school, but hey, close enough. We were halfway through our ten day trip and had already seen the lush green countryside of Ireland. Our group was taking a guided bus tour which I paid no attention to what so ever. While our tour guide blabbered on about the history of England my dad had already told me the last time I came here, I was either listening to the Ting Tings with my bus buddy Derrick or snoozing off in the back of the bus.

We had just left London about an hour ago and we were heading for Liverpool. I couldn't contain myself since I have always loved the Beatles, and visiting their hometown was a dream come true. I have always marveled at how big those four boys got. No one could ever be compared to them. Ever.  
As I was chilling in the back of the bus with Derrick, I was browsing through all of the "artistic" pictures I had taken the past five days. I say "artistic" because how artistic can an amateur 8th grade photographer be? Brushing my shoulder length light brown hair out of my face, I realized I had way too many pictures of flowers. I guess I kind of went crazy at Kew Gardens. I told myself I needed to change it up, maybe add some pictures of food. I like food... I mean who doesn't? Its just so good! I soon started to stare out the window and dozed off into the wonderful world of food.

I was abruptly woken up by my head pounding against the bus window. I groggily opened my eyes rubbing my head and noticed we were in the middle of nowhere.

"What is this? Where are we?" I asked Derrick.

"I have no clue. Maybe our tour guide knows."

Right on cue our tour guide Fanny piped in saying, "Sorry folks, but it appears that our bus has a flat tire. We will probably be stuck here for an hour while we wait for help." The bus was filled with groans as she continued. "Luckily we are just outside of Holmes Chapel, so if you want a bite to eat or need to use the toilets, it is a five minute walk from here."

"Well this is just fine and dandy isn't it?" I exclaimed. We were stuck in cow country and the last thing I wanted to do was spend an entire hour in it.

"Hey," Derrick said trying to console me, "At least there's food. Wanna go get some?"

"Heh heh... get some," I snickered. I always made things inappropriate. "Sounds good to me." and just like that we were off to Holmes Chapel. As we walked, Derrick and I talked about random things, and whenever possible I would slip in a "that's what she said" remark. I'm the kind of person who makes anything dirty, even the most innocent things. I, myself, look quite innocent on the outside with my baby face, but on the inside my mind is as dirty as a porno. Well maybe not that dirty, but you get the point.

When we got into the small village, my stomach immediately started growling. That was my cue to go find some food. With my eyes open for any place that sold food, I quickly spotted a quaint little bakery just down the way. As I walked in the door, the smell of freshly baked bread overwhelmed me. Once my nose got used to the amazing smell, I realized no one was behind the counter, however I did hear someone singing in the back room. Even though whoever singing sounded like they had the voice of an angel, I had to stop them because I was freaking hungry.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" I asked hoping to get someone's attention so I could get some food. Immediately the singing stopped and a flustered boy about my age came up and stood behind the counter. He had long curly hair, kind of like the Jonas Brothers, but his curls were looser. His eyes were so beautiful, it was extremely hard not to look at them. They were a greenish grey color I had never seen before since I essentially live in Little Asia so everyone has dark brown eyes.

"Excuse me, Miss?" I snapped out of staring into his dreamy eyes and came back into reality.

"Oh sorry, its just your eyes are really pretty." The boy let out a wide grin showing off his adorable dimples.

"Thanks, your eyes are kind of pretty too. They're not quite green but they aren't quite blue. And then there's that little explosion of gold just outside your pupil. Its really cool!"

"Umm... Thanks I guess?" I said awkwardly since it was weird how he noticed that much of my eyes in one look and because I didn't really get compliments from guys all that often. "Was that you singing back there?" I asked to break the awkward silence.

Blood flowed into his cheeks as he exclaimed, "Oh my God! You heard me? Ahh that's so embarrassing! I'm so sorry you had to hear that!"

"Oh no, Its totally fine. It was actually really good." I said trying to make him feel less embarrassed.

"Thanks," his dimples came back. "It's what I do most of the time since it gets pretty boring around here."

"Lauren's a pretty good singer." Derrick interjected. I immediately hit his arm and gave him the death glare as I did not want to further this conversation.

"Oh really now?" the boy said raising an eyebrow at me.

"She sings a pretty good rendition of 'You Shook Me All Night Long' by AC/DC." Derrick said feeding off of my embarrassment.

The boy behind the counter gave me a menacingly cheeky grin. "Kinda kinky isn't it? Not the kind of song I would have picked for you." Great. Now some guy I just met thinks I'm a sex maniac. "I didn't think you would be much of a rock girl, more of a Beatles fan girl." the boy said. I was about to flip out because this cute guy knew exactly the kind of person I was without knowing me when I realized he was looking at the Beatles shirt I was wearing.

"Yeah, I love the Beatles. I just sing AC/DC when I wanna mess around."

The boy raised his eyebrow again. "Oh, I presume you like to mess around a lot then?"

"Oh Gawd!" I immediately hit my forehead to to palm of my hand, "Not like that!"

"I'm just pulling your leg mate."

"Harry!" a voice called out from the back. "Come help me carry in this flour!"

"Just a sec mum!" the boy named Harry shouted back. "I'm helping some customers!" At that moment I remembered I was hungry. "Sorry guys. Anyway, where were we?"

"Well, I was just about to order." I said trying to move the conversation away from singing.

"I see what you did there..." Harry said.

I pretended I didn't notice. "Anywhoo, I would like something sweet. What do you have?" I inquired.

"Well, I'm pretty sweet if you ask me." Harry grinned.

"Ha... don't flatter yourself buddy. I'll have one of those." I said pointing at a jam filled Danish pastry.

"And what would you like?" Harry asked Derrick. I had completely forgot he was in the room. I felt like Harry and I were the only two people in the room. Damn that boy and his charm. Harry then gave Derrick and I our orders. As we pulled out our wallets Harry said, "Don't worry, it's on the house." Derrick and I looked at each other and back at Harry and told him thank you.

"No problem," he said winking at me. "If you guys don't need to be anywhere, you can hang around here. I just need to help my mum bring in the flour and I'll be on my break." Since Derrick and I didn't have anywhere else to go, we decided to stay and chit chat with our new friend.

Over the next hour, the three of us talked about everything from singing to making bread. Harry eventually got me to sin a little bit of "You Shook Me All Night Long" which I could not take seriously with the way he was looking at me seductively. I decided to stop singing that and changed it to "Hey Jude", my favorite song by the Beatles. It seemed as if Harry was savoring every note I sang, taking in the (what I assumed was) beauty of each note. When I finished he let out a big round of applause. "Wow Lauren! That was really good!"

My face turned bright pink. "Gahh! Thanks, you're better than me though." I said trying take the attention off of me. Right then, one of the teacher chaperones came in and said we had to be back at the bus in ten minutes. With a five minute walk back, that meant Derrick and I should have been leaving soon.

"Well, I guess we should get going." I said reluctantly.

"Aww boo! You're no fun!" Harry pouted. "Well before you go can we exchange numbers or something?"

"Oh, okay." I said caught off guard. I had never had a guy ask for my number. "How about AIM since international calling is really expensive."

"That works too!" Harry smiled as he wrote his screen name on a napkin. As I got up from the table, so did Harry. He came over to me and gave me a big hug. "It was really nice meeting you Lauren." Harry whispered in my ear.

"It was nice meeting you too Harry." I said back. As I pulled away from the hug I looked into his eyes which were staring right back at me. He brushed away a couple thin strands of light brown hair that covered my face with his hand. As his hand lingered by my face, he kissed my left cheek. Butterflies swarmed my stomach and without knowing it, a gigantic grin was plastered across my face. Thank God I was still standing near the table or else I would have fallen flat on my face without its support. Harry went over to Derrick and gave him a bro hug. Derrick and I then left the bakery and headed towards the bus. I had only taken a dozen steps when I turned around and saw Harry standing in the doorframe. He saw me and waved. My cheeks flushed and I waved back at him. I didn't know if I would ever see him again, but I knew what I had with this boy I had only known for an hour was something special.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Throughout the remainder of the trip, all I could think about was Harry, his moppy head of hair, his dimples, his eyes, and most of all the kiss on the cheek he gave me. Even thinking about that moment made the butterflies in my stomach flap their wings like there was no tomorrow. Sure, it wasn't a kiss on the lips, but as a 14 year old it was the only boy action I had ever gotten.

"So honey, how was your trip?" my mom inquired as she drove me home from the airport.

"It was fine." I was extremely jet lagged and all I wanted to do was message Harry once I got home.

"Did you have fun?"

"Yup." This went on for a while until I dozed off in the car. Thirty minutes later we finally arrived at my house. My mom offered to carry my bags inside as she encouraged me to go up to my room and take a nap. I quickly ran inside the house, got into my room, shut the door, and got on my computer. I got on AIM and entered Harry's screen name into my contacts. It was noon in California and 8 PM in England, so I figured he would be online. My assumption was correct when he accepted my request to chat almost immediately.

Harry: Hey what's up :)

Me: nm... just landed. hbu

Harry: just hangin in my room listening to our song

Me: and what would that be...?

Harry: you shook me all night long... how could you forget ;)

Me: oh lord... that is not our song -_-

Harry: Well you did sing it to me ;)

Me: OMG! no! you made me do it!

Harry: whoah now.. ur making me sound like i raped you w song!

I smiled. THis boy was just as perverted as me which I loved. Our conversation continued for another couple of hours until he had to go to bed. As I lay in my bed, I thought about Harry. Whatever we talked about he always made me smile. Over the next 5 months our conversations continued about three times a week due to the time difference. As time passed we grew really close and became best friends. When Christmas rolled around we sent each other presents in the mail. I sent him a mankini while he sent me a scandalous thong. Sending dirty gag gifts was definitely something we would do. When my birthday came around in January, I got a package from him that had a gold chain necklace with a garnet pendant. I already loved garnet because it was my birthstone, but having it be from Harry made me love it more. For Harry's birthday, which was just 16 days after mine, I got him a Build-A-Bear teddy bear with a sound box that had a recording of "You Shook Me All Night Long". When he got it me messaged me telling me how much he loved it which made me smile.

As the months passed by, our conversations grew deeper, but they still had their playful tone. Whenever I was feeling down he would pick me back up and I would do the same for him. It was like we were two peas in a pod. Sometimes I wondered if I liked Harry more than a friend. At this point I thought of him as a twin brother, but I wasn't sure if there was something more. Even if there was, I wouldn't know how to say it to him since I absolutely hate confrontation and letting out my feelings. And even if I were to confess the feelings I wasn't sure I was feeling, what would happen then? He lived more than 5,000 miles away. I decided not to think about all of that, so I put it on the back burner of my mind.

Around May of that year my parents told my brother and I they were getting a divorce. This hit me like a pile of bricks. I was completely crushed. Since I'm an introverted person, I don't like sharing how I feel with people. I didn't even tell Harry everything I felt. With so many emotions bottling up, I broke down and became depressed. I always moped around and didn't want to talke to anyone, not even Harry. I slowly stopped talking with him our usual three times a week and instead I only talked with him once a week. Knowing me so well, he asked if I was okay and I told him I was fine which I obviously wasn't. To make him stop worrying, I told him I wasn't online as much because I had so much school work. I felt bad that I was lying to my best friend, but I wasn't ready to tell him what was happening.

Weeks passed and my friends at school noticed something was wrong. Just like I did with Harry, I told them I was fine. My older brother Andrew saw how quiet and depressed I was and knew I hadn't told any of my friends about the divorce, so he took it upon himself to tell them. Once my friends were notified, we had a talk about what happened and how I felt. It was a little relieving that I had gotten it off my chest, but I couldn't get over the fact my world was falling apart. I slowly started opening up to my friends, but I still needed to open up to Harry. I wanted to tell him, I really did, but I couldn't. The moment just never felt right and it was still really hard to tell people about the divorce.

As summer rolled around, I talked to Harry less and less. Its not that I didn't want to talke to him, it was just taht our summer plans didn't coincide that well. Days and weeks went by without us talking. At this point Harry was the only person I talked to on AIM, so with one of us gone for days or weeks at a time, I slowly stopped going online.

After that summer, Harry and I stopped talking. I'd like to think our friendship was a sine wave that goes up and down. Currently our friendship was in the trough of the wave, but I knew that sometime or another it would rise back up. I did not know when that would be, but I had a feeling it would happen. What I did know, however, was that our friendship would go on forever just like the sine wave.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

August 2011

"Isn't he so adorable?" my friend Rachel exclaimed as she showed me a video of an eight year-old on Britain's Got Talent on her laptop.

"Mhmm, yeah." I said rather monotonously. When we weren't playing waterpolo together, Rachel would show me videos of her favorite contestants from Britain's Got Talent. I don't know why, but she was a little bit obsessed. After seeing so many videos I became numb and just went along to make her happy.

"I was sooo sad when he got eliminated!" Rachel was starting to tear up.

"Oh Lord, Rachel!" I scoffed rolling my eyes.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "You are gonna love these next guys." I was quite dubious of this because she said the exact same thing before every contestant she showed me. As she typed what she was looking for in the search box, Rachel explained that they were five guys from the UK and they got third place on the X Factor last season. She clicked on the video she wanted and right away a catchy bass tune filled the speakers resembling a song from the musical "Grease". The band, One Direction, hadn't come out with a music video yet, so the lyrics were floating across the screen. As the first singer started, Rachel immediately started lip synching to it.

You're insecure, don't know what for

You're turning heads when you walk through the door

Don't need make up to cover up

Being the way that you are is enough

The next singer's voice sounded vaguely familiar. I tried to recall who it was as he sang.

Everyone else in the room can see it

Everyone else but you

My foot started tapping to the beat as the chorus came in. By this point, Rachel was rocking out in her chair.

Baby you light up my world like nobody else

The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed

But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell

You don't know, you don't know you're beautiful

If only you saw what I could see

You'd understand why I want you so desperately

Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe

You don't know, you don't know you're beautiful

That's what makes you beautiful

Listening to the song, I kept trying to think of who sounded like the second singer. It was on the tip of my tongue. Who was it? This was going to drive me crazy. I kept listening to the song and I actually liked it. It was catchy and had lyrics I enjoyed and related to.

Once the song finished Rachel turned to me and asked, "Do you want to see what they look like? They're all really hot!"

"Do I have a choice?" I asked. "You're going to show them to me regardless." Rachel went to google images and typed in the first boy's name. Liam Payne. As the search results popped up, pictures of a handsome looking lad showed. Some had pictures of him with straightened hair and others with curly hair. Liam's curly hair kind of reminded me of my brother's hair when he hasn't gotten a haircut in a while which annoyed me when it was on my brother, but not so much on Liam.

"This is Liam," Rachel started. "He's the sensible dorky one."

"I like him, he's quite handsome."

"See I told you!" Rachel exclaimed. "Okay, this next one is my favorite, Niall Horan. He's the Irish one and loves to eat."

"A match made in heaven." I joked. Right then, pictures of a bleached blond haired guy with piercing blue eyes showed up. He wasn't hot, but he was cute, more like adorable. His smile was a little off since one of his teeth was out of place, but this imperfection made him even cuter. I looked over at Rachel who was gawking at each picture of Niall.

"Okay Rachel, show me the next one." I said bringing her out of her day dream.

"Oh right," she said being pulled out of her love spell. "Okay, Zayn Malik shall be next. He's the mysterious emotional one."

"Ooh!" I gawked as pictures of Zayn appeared. "He is FINE!" The pictures showed a Pakistani guy. With a chisled yet rounded face. His hair was styled up in a quif which made him look like a mix of Elvis and Bruno Mars.

"Why aren't the Pakistani guys at our school this sexy?" I whined.

"I know right?" Rachel agreed. "Next is Louis Tomlinson, the jokester." Pictures of a Justin Bieber haired guy popped up. In all of the pictures Louis had a giant grin plastered across his face as if someone had told the funniest joke ever. His eyes were a beautiful sea blue that pierced through your soul.

As Rachel was typing in the next band member's name, my phone vibrated so I checked to see who the text was from. I leaned back in the chair so I was balancing on the back two legs.

While I responded to the text, I heard Rachel say, "This one is the cheeky lady's man of the group."

As I looked up to the computer screen I immediately recognized the greenish grey eyes, the dark brown curly hair, and the unforgettable dimples. This was the boy I had met three years ago.


	4. Chapter 4

"HOLY SHIT!" I lost my balance on the chair and fell to the floor.

"I know he's gorgeous Lauren, but you don't have to go all crazy." Rachel laughed.

My heart was racing and I could barely breathe. After a few seconds of trying to relax I explained, "No, Rachel, I don't think he's gorgeous. Well he is gorgeous, but that's not why I flipped out." Rachel looked confused. "I know him." I said as seriously as I could.

"Bull hookey!" Rachel had an innocent mouth and never swore. It was quite amusing. "You don't know Harry Styles! He lives all the way in England! That's impossible."

"Rachel... this is real! I legitly know Harry Styles." I said trying to convince her. "Remember that guy I always talked about during polo practice freshman year? Harry was that guy." Rachel looked a little more convinced that I knew Harry, but was still dubious. "His full name is Harry Edward Styles. He lives in Holmes Chapel. His birthday is February 1, 1994." I listed. "Is that convincing enough?"

Rachel had a look of bewilderment plastered on her face. Her jaw that had dropped to the floor seconds ago had now turned into a giant grin. "OH MY GOD! YOU KNOW HARRY STYLES! OH HAPPY DAYS! When do I get to meet him? What's he like? Ooh we should go fly to London and surprise him and One Direction! Oh my god this is so exciting!"

"Rachel! Calm down!" I said as I grabbed both of her shoulders and looked her into her hazel eyes. "I don't even know if I can get a hold of him. I haven't talked to him in like two years."

"What do you mean you can't get a hold of him?" Rachel looked disappointed. Her classic puppy dog eyes were starting to come out. "You talked to him two years ago, why can't you now?"

"We kind of stopped talking, and it was over AIM. I highly doubt he uses that anymore. I sure don't." I always tried to be optimistic, but this was a time where I had to be a realist.

Rachel threw her head back in frustration. "Ugh! This stinks!" After a moment of silence she jumped into the air making a realization. "Lauren! Harry has a Twitter!"

"Your point is...?"

"You can get in contact with him from there!" It was a brilliant idea, but the problem was I didn't have a Twitter account. I refused to get one because it seemed pointless. As I thought over it, however, I realized that desperate times call for desperate measures. I hadn't spoken to this boy in two years and he was my best friend.

"Rachel," I said. "Today is the day Lauren Stewart is getting a Twitter." She immediately jumped up into the air screaming. I'm pretty sure this was the best day of her life. After I made my account I immediately followed Harry and mentioned him in a tweet.

harry_styles: Sooo 2 yrs ago you shook me all night long and yeahh ;) Hit ur bestest friend in the world Lauren up! I miss you :) and apparently you're famous now... whats up with that?

I was nervous to hit the post button to send my tweet out for the entire world to see. My shaking hand was on the mouse, visibly moving the cursor on the monitor. "Lauren! Send it already!" urged Rachel.

"Gahh! But I'm so nervous! What if he doesn't remember me? Then he'll think I'm some weirdo!" doubts started rushing through my mind.

"If you don't click that mouse right now I will!" she threatened. With that she climbed on top of my shoulder and reached for the mouse.

"Rachel! Don't you dare!" I screamed. We then got into an all out physical fight over the tiny little computer mouse. We always rough housed with each other, it's what waterpolo players do. All of a sudden, I heard a click of the mouse. Shit. "What just happened?" Rachel and I looked at the computer screen and saw that my tweet was posted.

"Goddamn it Rachel! This is your fault!"

"Hey, I am helping you here. You should be very grateful I did you such a favor." she boasted. At that I rolled my eyes and plopped down on my couch. I covered my face with both of my hands and let out an exasperated sigh. What did I just do? Despite being so anxious as to what just happened, I was a little excited as to what would happen next. All I had to do now was wait.


	5. Chapter 5

Harry's POV

"Oh Louis," I laughed "That was just too good. Twice in one day! What are the odds of that!" I, and all the other guys were laughing at Louis for getting pulled over twice in one day. We were in LA and were shooting our music video for our single What Makes You Beautiful. It was all quite exciting really. At one moment I'm trying out for the X-Factor and at the next I'm with my best mates in a world famous band. Its still so surreal.

"Oh shut up." Louis hissed back at me. "Why don't you go tweet about it if its so funny."

"What a brilliant idea, Louis." I remarked as I pulled out my phone.

"No! I take it back! Don't do it Harry!"

"I'm only kiddin' Lou." He came up to me and gave me a fat nuggie on the head. This messed up my hair a bit, so I turned my face down, brought my hair to the front of my face, gave it a shake, and brushed my hair off to the side. Good as new. With my phone still out and ten minutes of break left before we had to go back out, I thought it would be a good idea to see what was going on in the Twitter world. I logged on and saw I had hundreds of mentions, most of which were marriage proposals. I had only been away from twitter two hours and I already had that many. I smirked. I'm so cool :P Looking through all of my mentions, one in particular caught my eye.

harry_styles: Sooo 2 yrs ago you shook me all night long and yeahh ;) Hit ur bestest friend in the world Lauren up! I miss you :) and apparently you're famous now... whats up with that?

My heart skipped a beat. Was that who I thought it was? I re-read it just to make sure I read it correctly. Who else would have an inside joke with me about AC/DC and be named Lauren? No one that I could think of. It really was Lauren Stewart, the beautiful light brown haired girl I met three years ago when she came to Holmes Chapel. All of a sudden memories flooded through my mind. The hour that we spend together in my family's bakery, all of our perverted jokes, all of our AIM conversations. What ever happened to all of that? I missed that so much. We would chat for hours on end despite one of us being up in the wee hours of the night due to the time difference. One week Lauren was completely normal and then the next she barely talked to me. She said it was school work, but I knew something was up. Then, over the summer we kind of just stopped talking. It was like she was swept from the face of the earth. I wonder what happened to her. I wonder if she's okay.

"Hazza? Hazzaaaa? HARRY!" Niall pulled me out of my daydream.

"Huh? What?"

"Someone looks a little love struck don't they?" Crap, Niall noticed me daydreaming about Lauren. It was hard not to since she was so perfect with her blue green eyes and round cheeks. God, I was doing it again.

"Nooo." I denied. I was a horrible liar. My cheeks were turning red and a giant grin which I could not get rid of was plastered on my face.

"Mhmm sure. Who's the lucky girl? Please don't tell me its Caroline again."

"God no..." I chuckled "It's just some girl I know. It's no big deal."

"She sure doesn't seem like some girl. I saw how you were looking at your phone. It was like how I look at food if I haven't eaten in six hours. That's a pretty passionate look. You've seen it." Niall was right. Lauren was more than just some girl and she was a big deal. She was my best friend. Even though we hadn't spoken for two years, I still considered her my best friend. Who knows, maybe even my crush for the past three years. I tried getting her out of my mind by going out with other girls, but none of them were the same as Lauren. God, I needa stop day dreaming about this girl or else Niall will interrogate me even more.

"Just don't worry about it Niall." I said trying to end our conversation. "Isn't there another half of a sandwich you need to eat somewhere?"

"Ooh! That's right! I almost forgot about that." Niall then ran off to find the sandwich. Phew, that was a close one. Now, back to the matter at hand. Lauren. I looked at her tweet for a third time and wondered if I should send a tweet back. It would be rude if I didn't, so I decided to send one back in her direction.

Lstewstew94: Hey! I haven't heard from you in ages... whats up with that? why don't u send me an IM on AIM if u still have one and well go from there :)

My thumb hovered over the post button on my phone screen. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins. It was now or never, so i pressed post. After getting back to our hotel tonight i knew exactly what i would be doing; chattin it up old school style with my best friend.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Lauren's POV

Why wasn't he online? It was a reasonable time to talk if he was somewhere in the UK and an even more reasonable time to talk if he was here in the states. I took out my phone and texted Rachel.

Rachelllll hes not onlineeee fml -_-

Oh god. I felt like one of those clingy bitches who needs her man 24/7. Thinking about that made me think of my ex, Brandon who I had just broken up with two weeks before. He always wanted to be around me, which is nice sometimes, but not all the time. This girl needs her space every once in awhile. If I didn't text him back in 15 minutes he would flip out and get worried. He was also really over protective especially when I hugged other guys who I had platonic relationships with. I'm glad that was all over with. Right then my phone buzzed with a text back from Rachel.

Girl calm your tits... hes in LA filming the wmyb music video. it says so on liams twitter. hell be online sooner or later :)

I could always count on Rachel for using her obsession to help me. Now that I knew what Harry was up to all I had to do now was wait. I hated waiting for things, especially when I was alone, so I texted Rachel asking if she wanted to come over. She quickly responded wanting to come over and not pass up an opportunity to talk to the one and only Harry Styles.

Within five minutes I heard my sliding glass door open, and in came my short statured best friend. Her hair was damp as she had just got off of work as a swim instructor at DACA swim school. She had on a pair of black yoga pants and a white DACA shirt.

"Twinsie!" Rachel hollered as she tossed her cookie monster lanyard on my kitchen table. We considered ourselves twins since we both had long, thin light brown hair, freckles, and big boobs. Our waterpolo coach also frequently mixed us up. I got up from my chair and gave her a big bear hug. "Is he online yet?" she asked eagerly.

"Rachel, it's only been five minutes." I explained. "Harry's not going to be online."

"What if he is? …Go check now! Go go go!" she urged. Rachel was always a dreamer no matter how unrealistic the odds were.

"Fine." I said knowing that he wouldn't be online. "See... he's not online." I said as I pointed to the grey circle next to Harry's screen name.

"Agh! He needs to hurry up!" she said in an excitingly frustrated way. "While we wait I can show you One Direction videos!" Rachel started jumping up and down, unable to hide her excitement. So for the next hour and a half we watched all of the boys' auditions and all of the video diaries. Watching Harry's audition reminded me of the day I walked in on him singing three years ago in the bakery. I was so proud of him for making it all the way to third place in the X Factor. His voice was so beautiful yet rocky. The judges would have been crazy not to put him through. Rachel showed me Liam's audition next. He had sung Michael Buble's rendition of Cry Me a River, which I love. Hearing such a powerful voice coming out of a 16 year old was astounding. His voice was so strong and just so amazing. I giggled to myself at the way he said river. It sounded like he was saying rivert which was cute. Liam was cute. Watching the video diaries relieved me a little bit since I knew Harry hadn't changed a bit since I last talked to him.

As Rachel was about to show me a video of their first group performance, my computer made a ringing noise meaning I had a new message on AIM. We both immediately jumped in our seats and screamed like little girls. I quickly opened the window that had my conversation with Harry.

Harry: hey lauren! whats up? i havent talked to you in so long  
Me: harry! ive missed you! im just hangin w my friend rachel. shes a big fan of one direction

Rachel let out a giggle while her face turned bright red.

Harry: ive missed u too :( tell rachel i say hi :)

"Oh my gosh! Harry Styles said hi to me! With a smiley face." I was pretty sure Rachel was going to have a heart attack.

Me: im pretty sure that smiley face made her life lol  
Harry: haha im glad.. gotta love the fans. Hey do u have a skype? it would make this convo a lot easier. plus i havent seen your pretty little face in a while :)

Since Rachel is faster than me at reading, she finished reading the last message before me and immediately reached over my shoulder to reply to Harry.

Me: WHAT A BRILLIANT IDEA! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! ALSDFJALS

"Rachel! Was that really necessary?" I scolded "If you want to skype with harry you're going to have to keep it together and calm the fuck down!"

Rachel's eyes were filled with despair as i said this. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I won't do it again, I promise! Please let me skype with him! Please, please, pleaaase!" she was on her knees pleading.

"It's okay Rachel.. just try not to flip out too much." I warned her as I typed my next message to Harry.

Me: sorry that was rachel lol... my username is lstewstew add me :)  
Harry: sounds good :) see u in a little

With that I logged on to skype and waited to get a call from Harry. I was so excited to see Harry that my hands were shaking, and my hands never shake when im excited. Rachel on the other hand was convulsing in her chair. If I had a straight jacket I would have used it to tie her down. Thirty seconds later my computer said I had an incoming call from harry_styles. I glared at Rachel who was beaming from ear to ear. I told her to at least try to calm down and her convulsions went down to a slight shiver.

I clicked the answer button on the screen and right away my 24 inch computer screen was taken over by Harry's gorgeous face. He put on a big smile and those adorable dimples that I hadn't seen in so long appeared on his face as he saw mine on the screen. His hair was slightly longer than it was styled three years ago, but it was more or less the same. Harry and I were taking in each other's presence for a couple seconds not believing that we were face to face again (kind of).

"HOLY CRAP! It IS you!" Rachel screamed at the computer ruining our special moment.

"Haha yep. It's me. You must be Rachel. It's nice to meet you." Harry seemed quite normal talking to crazy Rachel. I guess it was because of all the crazy fan experiences he'd had in the past year. Rachel let out a high pitched squeal and her face turned even more red than it already was, which I thought was impossible up until now.

"I don't know if you could tell, but she's just a tad bit excited to talk to you." I joked.

"Excited is she?" Harry said with a cheeky grin. Oh, how I had missed that. "Why aren't you as excited as Rachel is, huh? Am I not worthy of your attention?" Harry pulled out his adorable puppy dog eyes.

"Pshh! Excuse me? I'm just as excited to see you as Rachel is! After all I'm talking to my best friend I haven't seen or spoken to in two years." I was starting to get defensive. "Sorry I don't express my excitement like I'm having a seizure." I said as I glared at Rachel who gave me a dirty look back. We joked around like this for the next five minutes and then our conversation simmered down a little bit.

"So why didn't you inform me you tried out for the X Factor and got all famous, hmm?" I teased.

"Probably because you disappeared off the face of the earth and stopped talking to me." Harry shot back.

"Yeahh, sorry about that." I said feeling a little guilty. "I had some stuff goin' on."

"Totally fine." Harry said understandingly. "We've all got stuff we got going on." I was hoping Harry wouldn't want to continue this conversation because I sure didn't. At least not now. After an awkward pause, Rachel and I heard a voice in the background.

"What's the craic Harry?" Rachel knew who it was right away since she knew Niall was the only one that said that. The only reason I knew it was Niall was because of the Irish accent. Harry then turned his head away from his computer and towards Niall's voice.

"Hey what's up? Come on in." Harry turned his head towards us again. "Hey do you guys want to meet Niall?"

"Oh my gosh! Can we please?" Rachel squealed. I honestly don't know how she was still alive at this point. I could literally hear her heart beating a million beats per minute.

"Sure!" I said rather calmly. I turned my head in Rachel's direction and said, "Now remember, calm the fuck down or I will shoot you in the face."

"Ooh that's a little harsh." Harry said. He then turned back towards Niall. "Hey, Niall! Want to meet someone?"

"For the last time Harry, I don't want to see your penis! That's for Louis to see." Niall yelled back. Rachel and I both burst into laughter. We tried to stop laughing but we couldn't since it was so goddamn hilarious.

"I'm pretty sure you do want to see it. You're just in denial." Harry joked. "But seriously, I'm skyping people, do you want to meet them?"

"Yeah, sure." Niall responded. Within five seconds he plopped down in the chair Harry was sitting in. Seeing Niall take up half of my computer screen overwhelmed Rachel so much that she fell out of her chair and onto my kitchen floor.

"Oh my God, Rachel! What did I tell you?" I shrieked while letting out a couple laughs.

"I'm sorry!" she moaned still lying flat on her back. "I couldn't help myself. This is all so exciting." I grabbed her hand and helped her get back onto her feet. As she picked up her chair, I sat back down in mine and looked back at the two boys who were laughing their asses off. I would have been doing the same, but I didn't want to make Rachel feel completely embarrassed in front of her idols.

"Hi, I'm Lauren Stewart and this is my retarded friend Rachel Kapul." I said as I awkwardly waved my hand at Niall. Rachel gave me a backhand slap on my shoulder, which I kind of deserved. As I thought back on what I just said I realized I was the retarded one since I said our full names which was really weird.

"Nice to meet you two. I'm Niall." He said in his adorable Irish accent. Rachel was so starstruck that all she could do was giggle back. "Is your twitter name Lstewstew94 by any chance?" he inquired. Harry immediately turned bright red and gave Niall a death glare. Weird.

"Um yeah, why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason." he said nonchalantly with a slight smirk on his face. "Someone I know was looking at a mention he had from you quite intently earlier today."

"Niall, you're such a douche!" Harry hit him hard in the shoulder. "He's just making this up. Nothing but lies, all lies." It looked like Harry was getting a little flustered. Rachel and I looked at each other suspiciously, not quite sure what was happening.

"Anywayyy..." I said awkwardly, trying to wean the conversation away from what just happened. "So how did you two meet?" After the words came out of my mouth I felt so incredibly stupid. "Ahh I'm sorry! That was a dumb question. I'm new to all this One Direction stuff, Rachel just showed me you guys less than twelve hours ago. My b."

"It's totally fine, you'll catch on sooner or later. On that note, how did you and Harry meet?" Niall asked while looking at Harry.

"Well she was on a school trip and her tour bus got a flat just outside of Holmes Chapel," Harry explained.

"I had an hour to spare, so a friend and I went to his bakery to get some food." I continued

"Ooh, meeting people is always good when food is involved." Niall chipped in.

"Anyway," Harry continued. "We started talking and we um... we got along real well, and when she had to go we exchanged our AIM screen names, and yeah."

"Wow," Niall remarked. "You two are like a couple telling the story together. Its kinda wierd." I blushed feeling a little embarrassed at the comment Niall just made.

"Well we're best friends, so we kind of have similar minds." I explained trying to avoid a potentially awkward conversation.

"Hey guys," Rachel chimed in. "I like food."

"Good to know Rachel, good to know." I gave her a weird look since that comment came completely out of the blue.

"No! It totally makes sense 'cause Niall said meeting people when food is involved is always good, and I was just saying I like food!"

"Yeah that makes sense. I gotcha." Niall chuckled. It was obvious Rachel was trying to flirt with Niall, or at least attempt to.

"See?! Niall says it makes sense, so it has to be true!"

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes. "You two can go off into your own little world of food and Harry and I will just be chilling over here."

"Sounds good to me." Niall said. "Speaking of which, I'm hungry. Harry, do you have any food in here?"

"Yeah, there's some trail mix in my suitcase. Just don't eat it all." Harry said as Niall skipped over to his suitcase.

"Sorry man, can't promise you that." Nial said with a mouth full of trail mix.

"Well, would you look at this?" Rachel chimed in. "It's the first time we're meeting and food is involved. Isn't that fancy." I laughed at Rachel's dorkiness.

"Well you know what they say," Niall said looking right at Rachel with a smile. "Meeting people when food is involved is always good. Who knows? This could be the start of something new."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Harry's POV

It was so nice talking to Lauren again. It had been so long and I really missed her. I missed the way her light brown hair fell on her shoulder, her beautiful blue green eyes, and most of all her amazing personality. The last time I had seen her, Lauren was a cute little girl, but over time she has developed into a gorgeous young woman. She looked so stunning on my computer even if she was wearing a baggy T-shirt and no makeup. I actually liked her without makeup because she is perfectly beautiful just the way she is. Rachel and Niall had been talking about food for the past five minutes which was perfect since I could daydream about Lauren and not be pestered.

"So what is your favorite restaurant in L.A. so far?" Rachel asked Niall.

"We've only been here for a couple of days, so I haven't had too much time to look around."

"Speaking of L.A.," Lauren's smooth voice chimed in, bringing me out of my daydream. "How long are you guys going to be down there?"

"We'll be here for another week and a half. You still live in California right? Why don't you come down sometime?" I suggested.

"That's actually a really good idea." Lauren exclaimed. Next to her I could see Rachel's face blush yet again. "Now that I think of it, my mom is going down there tomorrow to see Scotty. Oh my God, this could actually work!"

"Scotty?" I was confused. "I thought your dad's name was Roger." Lauren's eyes looked away from her computer briefly and for a split second I saw a hint of pain in her eyes. "Is he your uncle or something?" I asked curious as to who this Scotty person was.

"Um, don't worry about it." Lauren said awkwardly. "I'll tell you later."

"He doesn't know?" Rachel asked, obviously knowing what was going on. Lauren shot her a fierce look as if to tell her to drop the topic.

"Know what?" I asked knowing I wouldn't get an answer.

"It's nothing. I'll tell you later." Lauren seemed annoyed. "Look, I gotta go now. I'll talk to you later?"

"Um okay." I said awkwardly at the abrupt goodbye. "When will you be free?"

"Why don't you call back at like ten? So in three ish hours."

"Alright sounds good." I said. "It was nice talking to you again, and it was nice to meet you Rachel."

"Yeah, it was really nice meeting you." Niall added only addressing Rachel. "Will you be back at ten as well?" Rachel blushed and looked at Lauren to ask if she could stay.

"Yeah, I'll be there!"

"Sweet, we'll see you lovely ladies at ten." Niall said with his charming smile.

"Bye!" Lauren and Rachel said together while waving back at us smiling. It was kind of weird since they look and sound the same. It was like they were sisters.

"See ya later!" Niall and I said in unison. Right after Lauren ended the call, I turned to Niall and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Hey man, what's the matter?"

"She's hiding something, Niall. I don't know what it is and its killing her."

"Yeah, I kind of noticed that too. Do you know what it could be?"

"I have no clue, but it's killing me that it's killing her."

"Don't worry Haz, just wait it out and she'll tell you in time." Niall was always good at making me feel better. "On a lighter note, Lauren sure seems like a nice girl. You like her don't you?"

"Nah, she's just..." I fumbled for words. "I mean we just get along real well."

Niall smiled and rolled his eyes. "That's what you say about any girl you like."

"Whatever. You looked pretty into Lauren's friend Rachel." I shot back, quickly changing the topic.

Niall's fair cheeks turned pink as he let out a little smirk. "Nah, she's just really nice and interesting to talk with. I like anyone I can talk about food with."

"Mhmm, sure." I teased with a cheeky grin. "Speaking of food, want to get a bite to eat? I'm starving."

"I'm so down to get some food. Want to stop by the taqueria we saw on the way back from the beach?"

"Sounds good to me." I love Mexican food, especially fajitas. And so off we went to eat as many fajitas as our stomachs allowed. As I was walking down the street, all I could think about was what Lauren was hiding. I knew it was killing her not telling me, so why didn't she?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Lauren's POV

"I thought you were free the rest of the night. Why did you say you had to go?" Rachel asked after I ended the skype call.

"Because the conversation was getting really awkward really fast, that's why."

"Lauren, I thought Harry was your best friend. Why doesn't he know about your parents' divorce?" Rachel scolded.

"He is my best friend, but its just it never felt like the right moment to tell him."

"You could have told him two minutes ago when the opportunity presented itself." A hint of seriousness was showing in Rachel's hazel eyes.

"Yeah, but I want to tell him in person." I explained.

"And skype wasn't in person enough for you? Lauren, you are going to have to tell him sooner or later. He knows something is up."

"I know, I know. But skype isn't the same as in person. I'll tell him if we go to L.A."

"Don't make excuses, make an effort. He is your best friend, and he deserves to know what is going on in your life. Plus, what if we don't even go to L.A.?" Rachel was starting to get pissed at me, and that doesn't happen very often. It scared me a little bit.

"Fine, I'll go ask my mom if we can come with her this weekend. Happy?"

"Go ask... Now. Oh and see if Savannah can come along too!" Rachel urged. Savannah was one of my other best friends. I had known her since third grade, but I had become really good friends with her in the past couple of years since she was in my church choir. Rachel knew her from school and also showed Savannah One Direction. The three of us were inseparable, so it was only fair to invite her to come with us.

I got up from my chair and walked down the hallway into my mom's room. "Hey mom," I sang in through the doorway.

"Please don't tell me you're asking me for more money. I just gave you ten dollars yesterday." She jumped to this conclusion since I always used that tone when I asked for money.

"Calm down, I'm not asking you for money. I was just wondering if Rachel, Savannah, and I could go down to L.A. with you this weekend."

My mom was taken aback by my request. "That's fine with me, but may I ask why all three of you want to go on such short notice?"

I hadn't thought about this. My mom didn't know about Harry, and she definitely didn't know he and four other guys were in a world famous boy band. I had to bend the truth a little. "Some of our friends just came in town and we all want to meet up down there."

"Do I know these people?" my mom asked inquisitively.

"No, they're waterpolo people we met at a tournament." I lied.

"Then how does Savannah know them?"

"We met them freshman year, when Savannah was on the team." This was harder than it seemed, but luckily my mom agreed to let us go. I skipped back down the hallway into the kitchen to see Rachel glance at me with hopeful eyes. "We're going to L.A.!"

"Oh my gosh! Really?!" she leaped out of her chair and we both jumped up and down like maniacs. "We need to tell Savannah!" Rachel was about to text her when I noticed she was online on skype, so I decided to call her. Within 20 seconds her lovely face filled the screen. Savannah had long, voluminous dirty blonde hair and beautiful dark chocolate colored eyes. Almost everyone at our school had dark brown eyes, but Savannah's were different, there was something special about them that made them unique. She was wearing a San Francisco Giants shirt that was just as baggy as the San Jose Sharks T-shirt I was wearing. We were the same in that we did not care how we looked. Savannah and I wear more comfortable clothes than we do fashionable. We do enjoy getting all prettied up on occasions, but for the most part, we wear T-shirts and sweats, or jeans if we're feeling adventurous.

"Hello my darlings." Savannah said with a big smile. She had the sunniest personality out of anyone I knew. "What's goin' on?"

"How shall we say this," I said trying to find the right way to tell her the good news. "We're meeting One Direction this weekend!"

"What are you guys talking about?" Savannah didn't believe us. I wouldn't blame her.

"Lauren knows Harry, and they're in L.A. right now, and we're going to go down this weekend with Lauren's mom, and we're going to meet them all!" Rachel explained.

"Wait. Hold up. Lauren knows Harry?" she still seemed a little dubious. "Is this for real?" she asked raising her right eyebrow.

"Yes its real. I know it's hard to believe, but remember when I went to the UK after 8th grade?"

"Yes... continue."

"Well my bus broke down just outside of his hometown and I met him in his bakery and we've kind of been best friends since." I explained, hoping she would realize I was telling the truth.

"Why are you telling me this now?!" Savannah was starting to believe Rachel and me.

"Well I didn't know he'd become famous until Rachel showed me One Direction today. Up until today I hadn't talked to him for a couple of years."

"We got to talk to him and Niall over skype today!" Rachel bragged.

"SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! NO YOU DID NOT! Lauren, tell me this is false!" Savannah's two favorite members of the band were Harry and Niall, so she was obviously jealous.

"I hate to tell you this, but we did. Rachel and I talked to them about ten minutes ago."

"Woww, you guys suck! Thanks for inviting me to your little meet and greet session. Ya know, I could totally care less about it." She said sarcastically.

Rachel and I looked at each other thinking the same thing. "We're talking to them again later tonight. Want to come over for dinner and join us." Rachel suggested.

"Is that even a question? I'll be over in one minute exactly! Bye guys!" Savannah hung up hurriedly. She lived less than a mile away from my house, just down the hill, so it was really easy for us to hang out.

Exactly one minute later, Savannah came running into my house through the open sliding glass door. She immediately demanded Rachel and I tell her the entire story of how I met Harry and how we talked over skype.

"So Lauren, do you have a thing for Mr. Styles?" Savannah nudged my side as we were eating our dinner of tortellini with pesto and alfredo sauce.

"I don't know. I mean he's my best guy friend and he's essentially my brother. Ugh! I don't know." I let out an exasperated sigh. "Why do you ask Savannah? Do you want to see if you can hop on him? He is your favorite band member after all."

"Pshh, what? I would never do that!" Savannah said jokingly. "But I have a boyfriend who I love very much, so you can have all the Harry you want."

"Oh please!" Rachel scoffed. "If Harry Styles asked you out right now, you would dump Jed like that!" Rachel snapped her fingers to show how quickly Savannah would dump her boyfriend.

"No I wouldn't! As a matter of fact, I am perfectly content with my super sweet boyfriend who looks just like Prince Harry." It was uncanny how much Jed looked like Prince Harry. He had the ginger hair, the facial structure, and especially the eyes. When their pictures were put next to each other, it was almost like you were looking at the same person. "How about we talk about Rachel and Niall, huh?" Savannah suggested desperately trying to change the topic.

"How about we not?" Rachel said while blushing. This girl was always blushing, even when she wasn't embarrassed. Her cheeks were always rosy which added to her adorable personality.

"You want on, don't you Rachel?" I teased. "You want his lucky charms."

"No I don't guys! I barely know him!" Just like me, Rachel had a dirty mind, but whenever someone made a sexual innuendo about her and a guy she got extremely embarrassed. We continued teasing each other and gossiping about the boys until we heard a ring come from the computer. Was it already ten? Time sure flies when you're talking about cute guys. We ran over to the computer and squeezed into the camera's view so we could all be seen. I was in the middle of my two best friends with Rachel on my left and Savannah on my right. I clicked the answer button and we all took a deep breath in as Harry showed up on the screen. I looked over at Rachel who suddenly seemed disappointed that Niall wasn't there.

"Hey Harry! Long time, no see." I joked. "Where's Niall?"

"He's here, don't worry. He's just in the bathroom." Harry reassured us. "Our Mexican food dinner didn't go through him too well."

"TMI Harry, TMI!" I exclaimed.

"I see you have another friend with you now. Who is this lovely lady on your right?" he inquired.

"This is Savannah, one of my other best friends. The three of us are like the three musketeers." I explained.

"Ah, I see." Harry paused and turned away from the computer as if he heard something. "Oh here comes Niall. Try not to fall out of your chair this time Rachel."

"Don't worry, I won't." Rachel snapped back at Harry with a little attitude.

"Hey Niall! Come over here, the girls are on skype! Bring Lili over too, he needs to get off his ass!" Harry yelled towards Niall. As we waited for Niall to come over, I wondered to myself who Lili was. It must be a nickname because no parent would name their son Lili. Soon enough, Niall and a handsome looking guy whose face I could not see quite yet, showed up on the screen.

"Hi Rachel," Niall said with a grin. Savannah and I looked at each other and raised our eyebrows at one another. Niall was too preoccupied with Rachel that he didn't bother to say hello to Savannah and I.

"Hello ladies," the handsome guy said with a deep British accent. "I'm Liam." My heart skipped a beat. Besides Harry, Liam was my favorite member. He was just so handsome and had such a rich voice. It was just too much to handle.

"Hi! I'm... uhh.. Lauren." I always joked around that I would be straight up retarded if I met a famous person, but I never thought it would actually happen. Rachel and Savannah introduced themselves in a more excited manner.

"So what's the verdict on you coming down to L.A.?" Harry asked.

"So my mom thinks I'm meeting waterpolo friends since she would think I was crazy if I said I was seeing a world famous boy band, but Rachel, Savannah, and I are all going!" I said with a smile. Harry's face lit up and his to-die-for dimples appeared on his face. I took a glance at Niall's face and noticed he was smiling like the happiest man in the world. He had his crooked smile plastered across his face which made him look ten times happier.

"Sweet, I can't wait for you guys to come down!" Harry exclaimed.

"This will be so much fun!" Niall added.

"Wait guys," it was hilarious how confused Liam was. "What the hell is going on?"

"Lauren and I know each other, those two are her friends," Harry said pointing at Savannah and Rachel. "And they live in California and are coming down this weekend to see us." Liam still looked a tad confused at how I knew Harry because his thick eyebrows were furrowed together. Despite his confusion he seemed to be okay with the idea.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow?" Niall asked eagerly.

"I think we're going to leave at 9 or so and we'll be in L.A. by about 4." I explained. "What will you guys be doing then?"

"We'll still be shooting the video at the beach. You guys can come if you want." Harry suggested. There was a glimmer of hope in his beautiful eyes that I would say yes.

"We would love to!" Rachel interjected. All of a sudden a look of inspiration appeared on her face. "This may be far fetched, but do you think we could be in the music video?"

"We'd have to check, but that sounds like a great idea." Harry approved.

"Heheheh this is so exciting!" Rachel chuckled.

"You know what else is exciting?" Liam proclaimed. "Packing! I think if you ladies want to get a good nights rest for the long drive down, I would suggest getting packing soon." Harry and Niall moaned at his dorkiness while Rachel, Savannah, and I thought it was the funniest thing ever. From Harry and Niall's reaction I could tell Liam's dorkiness was underappreciated. I, myself, was quite dorky and enjoyed Liam's personality.

"Liam, we've barely been talking for ten minutes and you want them to leave?" Niall cried.

"No! Of course not." Liam seemed repulsed that Niall would think he wanted us to leave. "I was just suggesting that they start packing because it's starting to get late and... oh forget it. I'm going back to my room to watch 'Toy Story'." Liam got up from his chair and started to leave.

"Liam! C'mon, stop being so over sensitive. Just a second guys." Harry told us while getting out of his chair to talk to Liam.

"What's his deal?" Savannah asked Niall who was the only one left.

"Lately Liam's been a bit sensitive since him and Danielle split." Niall explained. In the background I could hear Harry and Liam's muffled voices.

"Liam, why are you being like this?"

"You want to know why I'm being like this?" Liam's voice started getting louder. "I'm being like this because-"

"So, are you guys excited to come down?" Niall inquired awkwardly as he didn't want us to overhear Harry and Liams conversation.

"Yeah. Didn't we already establish that?" Rachel answered bluntly. I guess she wanted to listen in on the conversation just as much as I did. While Niall tried to think of another topic to talk about, Rachel and I listened in again.

"You moping around all the time is honestly starting to bum us all out. You can't keep doing this. It's been two months already, get over it!" Damn. Niall made us miss what Liam said.

"You know what's funny?" Niall interrupted once again.

"Shush, shush, shush! We're trying to listen." Savannah hissed, trying to silence him.

"Harry, Liam!" Niall yelled. "The girls are bullying me and I miss you! Come baaack!" The muffled conversation in the background died down to a whisper so that we couldn't hear it. A couple seconds later Harry and Liam reappeared and sat back down in his chair. Even though I wasn't in the room with them, I could feel the tension between the two. Harry seemed annoyed while Liam looked like he wasn't too pleased to be back. His dark brown eyes were nervously shifting around so he wasn't.

There was a long awkward pause until I spoke up. "Liam's right, we should probably get packing, and it seemed like he wanted to watch 'Toy Story' pretty badly." I could tell Harry and Niall didn't want us to sign off just yet, but at one point I knew how Liam felt and I knew he didn't want to be there. I nudged Rachel and Savannah to agree with me.

"Yeah, it is getting pretty late." Rachel said.

"And I like my beauty sleep." Savannah added. It was true, she was constantly taking naps.

"Okay, if you say so." Harry said reluctantly.

"Alright, well we should get going." I said.

"Wait!" Harry urged. "Give me your number so I can text you during your drive down." I dictated my number to him and soon after we ended the skype call. Liam was right, we needed to pack. It was only 10:20 and I was getting tired. I sent Savannah and Rachel home so they could pack as well. While I was packing I thought back to that awkward Liam situation. I didn't mean to be nosy, but I wanted to know what happened between him and Danielle. He looked so sad that I just wanted to be there for him, even if I barely knew him.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After a seven hour drive with a lunch break at In-n-Out Burger, Rachel, Savannah, my mom, and I had finally arrived in L.A. We stopped by Scotty's house to drop my mom off. Scotty was my mom's boyfriend. He had a small house that didn't have enough room for five people, so the three musketeers got a hotel room which was where we went after dropping my mom off. Since we were all dressed in sweats and T-shirts, we made a unanimous decision to go to our hotel room and change. Once we arrived in our room I went to the bathroom to look in the mirror.

"Hey Savannah," I hollered. "Do you, by chance have any tweezers?" I had noticed my eyebrows weren't looking too appealing and if I was going to go out in public I was going to have to pluck those suckers. Savannah handed me her tweezers and off I went to tweeze away.

About half an hour later, we were all ready. Savannah had on a beautiful light blue, sleeveless sheer shirt with a polo collar. She also had on a pair of white shorts with a simple orange and pink floral pattern. Around her shoulder she had a cute little satchel which I gave her shit for because "Indiana Jones wears one." Savannah's outfit couldn't be completed without one of her many pairs of Toms. Rachel on the other hand had on a grey lace tank top with slightly ripped denim jeans and a pair of rainbows to finish it off. I, myself, had on a flowy emerald green top which cut off just above my midriff. The combination of the green of my shirt and the black eye liner applied to my waterline made my eyes look more green than usual. I had a pair of denim shorts on which were similar to Rachel's. I had my hair up in a high ponytail since I don't like my hair blowing in my face and getting tangled in the coastal wind.

Taking one last look in the mirror, I grabbed my car keys from the counter, and we headed downstairs. On the ride down on the elevator, I texted Harry that we were on our way. He texted back telling me the name of the beach they were filming at. As soon as we got in the car, I put the name of the beach in the GPS, and off we went. Ten minutes later, we pulled into a makeshift parking lot that only had a couple cars parked in it. Just beyond the parking lot, there was a small private looking beach. Rachel, Savannah, and I all got out of the car and walked towards the warm sand and the boys we were so eager to see. As we neared the beach, we saw the band aimlessly running around in the waves while a film crew captured it. Harry was currently facing the waves, but when he turned around, he made eye contact with me. The corners of my mouth turned upwards to make a smile.

"Lauren!" Harry yelled across the beach. We were only 50 yards away from each other, so I heard his voice loud and clear. I excitedly waved my hand in the air above my head. I saw Harry running towards me, so I started lightly jogging towards him since it's impossible to run with big boobs. We were just feet apart, so I leapt into the air towards him. As he caught me against his body, I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his long torso.

"I've missed you so much!" I shrieked. It had been less than 24 hours since we had skyped, but seeing him in person was different.

"I've missed you too!" Harry said as he let me down from the koala hug. With my feet on the ground and my arms still hanging around his neck, he gave me a light kiss on the cheek. As I pulled away, I noticed the other boys were walking towards us.

"It's nice to finally meet you guys in person." Niall said as he approached us. He went to hug Rachel first and then moved onto Savannah and I. Niall's hug was one of the best hugs I have experienced in my life. It was cozy and warm and just so nice. Next to greet us was Liam, who looked much better than yesterday.

As he hugged me, I whispered in his ear, "Did you ever finish 'Toy Story'?"

Liam chuckled. "Yeah," he paused. "Sorry I was a little weird last night. I'm normally not like that."

"It's okay, we all have our days." I looked at him understandably. After Liam left, Zayn and Louis came up to us.

"I bet you already know this," Louis started. "But I'm Louis and this is Zayn."

"Nice to meet you." I smiled. "I'm Lauren, and this is Savannah and Rachel." The two approached us to give us hugs as well. Harry then placed his arm around my waist as he led me, Savannah, and Rachel to the management and film crew to introduce us. I didn't think much of his hand around my waist because most of my guy friends from my church choir did this.

"So are these the girls you wanted in the music video?" a man from the film crew inquired.

"Yeah, would that be okay?" Harry asked with pleading eyes. The man looked up and down all three of us taking note of the criteria he had in his mind. After about a minute of silent analyzing, the man seemed to have made up his mind.

"Alright, they can be in the video." Rachel, Savannah, and I all started jumping up and down screaming like maniacs. At that moment we didn't care what people thought of us. We were going to be in a music video, and not just any music video, a One Direction music video! I turned to Harry and he ran towards me and gave me a big bear hug.

"This is going to be awesome!" He exclaimed pulling slightly away from the hug to make eye contact with me.

"I know right?!" Harry pulled me back into the hug. As I tried to pull away from the hug a couple seconds later, Harry didn't let up and kept holding me close to his body. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for long hugs, but this hug went on for a little longer than I felt comfortable. I lightly patted him on the back which is a universal sign to let go of a hug, and Harry reluctantly pulled away I gave him an awkward smile then went back over to where Savannah was. Rachel had run over to Niall and the others to tell them the good news. Savannah cheekily raised her eyebrows at me to insinuate that she saw the passionate hug that just took place. I rolled my eyes at her and mouthed that I would talk to her about that later. The three of us then walked back to where the others were. Harry's arm was around my waist again, but this time I actually thought about what it could mean. Was I just overthinking after the long hug or was it just a friendly gesture like I had originally thought. I told myself not to think about it.

The sun was starting to set and we were almost done filming. All we had left to film was Harry's solo which he was going to be serenading to a girl. Since the boys got to choose which girls they wanted to interact with in the video, I was going to be the girl Harry serenaded. Niall chose Rachel and Louis chose Savannah. Rachel and Niall were so adorable together. I knew they were only friends, but I was shipping them so hard.

"Let's get this started so we can all go home." the director boomed. Harry and I walked up to the director so he could tell us where to go. "Okay, you two are going to be right about... here." he said as he placed us in our spots. "Get a little closer." We were already really close, so getting any closer would be quite intimate. Our faces were just inches apart. Inside my head I was giving myself a pep talk. My face had been much closer to many of my friends' faces, so I told myself I could do it.

"So what am I supposed to do?" I asked.

"Harry is going to walk up to you and just pretend that your boyfriend is saying the words to you." the director answered back. Well that was helpful. The queen of awkward has to improvise a semi-intimate scene. Woot! The music started to play and Harry walked up to me singing his solo in his deep, rocky voice. I decided it would be a good idea to look into his eyes. As I looked up, his eyes pierced through my soul.

Baby you light up my world like nobody else

For a split second it seemed like he actually meant the words he was so beautifully singing. Getting flustered, I quickly shifted my eyes down and smiled.

The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed

All of a sudden he pulled me closer which caught me off guard, but I went with it so I wouldn't ruin the take. We were so close that our foreheads were touching and at one point our noses brushed against each other.

But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell

The music stopped and Harry and I stood there staring into each other's eyes, his arms still wrapped around my waist.

"That was a good take you guys," the director said. "Let's do a couple more for good measure."

"I think we're good." Harry said. I was caught by surprise by this because judging by the way he was acting around me today, I figured he would want to do more shots like that. "I think if we keep doing takes, the special feel of the first take will fade and it won't look as legit." Derp, there goes my surprised feeling. The director seemed to agree with Harry, and we were finally done with filming.

"The guys and I are all going out to dinner tonight." Harry started. "Do you want to join us?"

"Sure, that sounds good. Do you want to pick us up at our hotel at 7:30?" That gave Savannah, Rachel, and I a good hour to have girl talk.

"Okay, 7:30 it is." Harry said with a smile. We walked back together towards the others and five minutes later Savannah, Rachel, and I left to go back to our hotel to get ready for dinner.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Harry's POV

It was so nice to see Lauren again in person. Even though I had only hugged her that one time before three years ago, I had missed it so much. When she ran up to hug me, it felt like I was on cloud nine and nothing could bring me down. It was amazing seeing how much she had changed over the past three years (physically, not personality wise). When I first met her she was a petite little girl and that was about it, but now she was 5'4" and had an amazing figure. She had an athletic body, but her slight hourglass figure made it sexy. And her boobs... dear lord where did those come from? She used to be as flat as a pancake, but now she was as voluptuous as a Victoria's Secret model. Her long legs were even more to die for because they were perfectly toned from waterpolo and swimming. They weren't too muscular, but they weren't jiggly, it was just right. Everything about Lauren was just right, even her eyebrows which were perfectly shaped. I doubt she ever plucked them because she is just so perfect.

I was now walking the girls over to the film crew and management to introduce them and see if they could be in the music video. I had my hand around Lauren's waist which I hoped she wouldn't mind. It didn't seem like she minded, it seemed like she was right where she wanted to be. Mission accomplished.

"So are these the girls you wanted in the music video?" one of the guys from the film crew inquired.

"Yeah, would that be okay?" I asked pleadingly. He took a good look at each of the girls. I knew he had high standards for the girls he wanted in the video, but I also knew that Rachel, Savannah, and especially Lauren were beautiful enough for those high standards.

"Alright, they can be in the video." Savannah, Lauren, and Rachel all started freaking out like many of the fangirls the boys and I had seen. I laughed to myself at their sheer and utter excitement. Lauren then turned to me and I gave her the biggest bear hug I could give. I was so excited for her.

"This is going to be awesome!" I said pulling back from the hug just so I could look into her beautiful eyes that were greener than usual.

"I know right?!" she exclaimed. I brought her back into the hug because I didn't want to let her go just yet. A couple seconds later she started pulling away, but I kept holding her wanting to feel her warm embrace for a little longer. Lauren then patted me on the back which was obviously a sign of a good hug coming to a close. Even though I didn't want that moment to end, I slowly pulled away from the hug. I looked into her eyes and she gave me a cute little smile. Savannah, Lauren, and I then started walking back to where the others were. My hand was around Lauren's waist again, and she still seemed content with it.

I guess during my hug with Lauren, Rachel ran over to tell Niall and the guys the good news. Rachel was good for Niall, they complemented each other quite nicely. I could tell he liked her because whenever I mentioned her name, his blue eyes lit up and his pupils grew significantly larger. Hopefully those two would get together sometime or another because Niall really needed a nice girl. My little leprechaun was starting to get lonely.

When we got back to the others, the three girls gathered in their own group, Niall went to get food, Zayn and Liam went off somewhere, and Louis and I were the only ones left which I was totally okay with. I was glad he didn't run off somewhere because I wanted to talk to him about Lauren. Niall was a good person to talk to, but he would tease me about it. Louis on the other hand would listen and not make any jokes despite his jokester personality. That's what I loved about Larry Stylinson, we could be messing around being our normal selves one moment and the next we could be completely serious.

"Hey Haz," Louis started. "Is something on your mind?"

"Yeah, I kind of wanted to talk to you." Just thinking about Lauren gave me butterflies in my stomach.

"Let me guess, about Lauren?" Louis knew me so well.

"How did you know?" I was starting to blush.

"Are you kidding me? It was impossible not to see that passionate hug you gave her. It was like Simba and Nala reuniting after all those years of not seeing each other. It's obvious you like her."

At that point I was kind of embarrassed because I hoped Louis was the only one who saw that hug. "Is it that obvious?" I asked shyly. Louis nodded his head.

"So what is it about this girl that you like?"

"I don't know. It's just everything about her. Her eyes, her face, her hugs, her personality, just everything. Everything she does is so perfect and whenever I'm around her it feels like we're the only two people in the world." I felt like I was vomiting out the words, but they were all true.

"Alright, that sounds pretty legit to me." Louis said raising an eyebrow as if he were impressed. "How long have you felt like this?"

"When we met three years ago we clicked right away, and when we talked over AIM I started liking her. As the years passed and I went out with other girls, I didn't feel the same spark with them as I felt with Lauren. When we stopped talking for those two years, I thought those feelings were gone, but now that she's here they've just sprung back up. Lou, I don't know what to do."

"Just tell her how you feel, man." What a genius.

"Okay, but how am I supposed to do that?"

"Tell her what you just told me. It's all quite simple really." But it wasn't that easy. Even though I already had the words I would tell Lauren, I find it extremely difficult to pour my heart out to a girl. If I was able to tell her how I felt, what if she didn't feel the same way, what if she did. Despite what Louis said, this was all too complicated.

The day was coming to a close and all we had to do was film my solo where I'm supposed to serenade a girl. I was excited to be doing this scene because it was with Lauren, but I was also nervous because it was with Lauren. The director moved Lauren and me into our places. We were just inches apart. It felt like a lead up to a kiss; you are so close to each other, but not quite kissing yet. My chest was getting tight and my stomach was getting queasy just thinking about it. The music was about to start and I backed away so I could walk up to Lauren as I sang. The lyrics to this song described her so much; she didn't make up to look pretty, when I looked in her eyes she would always shyly look away, and most of all, she lit up my world like nobody else. As I sang my solo, I meant every word. I pulled her closer to me and we were just close enough to kiss. Our noses touched which sent a massive chill throughout my body. I had finished my solo and the music stopped. Lauren was looking up into my eyes, and I was looking down into hers. I wish I could have captured that moment and lived in it forever.

That moment was short lived, however because the director ruined it by saying, "That was a good take you guys. Let's do a couple more for good measure."

"I think we're good." I said. "I think if we keep doing takes, the special feel of the first take will fade and it won't look as legit." Although what I said was true, the main reason why I didn't want to do anymore takes was because my feelings for Lauren were so strong, I didn't think I would be strong enough to do one more take. The director seemed to agree with my point, and with that we were done filming. I wanted to spend more time with Lauren, and I was pretty sure the guys wanted to spend more time with her and the other two as well, so I invited her to come to dinner with us. She suggested we pick her and the girls up at 7:30 which was a little more than an hour away. We walked back to the rest of the group, and five minutes later the girls left to get ready for dinner. One hour normally wasn't that long to wait, but in this point and time I felt like it would take years to be over since I was waiting for the girl of my dreams.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Lauren's POV

"Guys, I don't know what to do." I whined as I plopped face down on one of the queen sized beds in our hotel room.

"What do you mean you don't know what to do? It's obvious Harry likes you! Hop on!" Rachel urged.

"But I don't know how I feel about him." I wasn't sure if I thought of him as my best guy friend or my brother, or something more. It was all so confusing. I hated it.

"What about that long passionate hug you guys had, hmm?" Savannah interjected.

"I don't know, it was kind of awkward." I started. "At first I was fine with it, but then when I tried pulling away he didn't let go but pulled me closer. He was hugging me longer than friends normally would." Rachel and Savannah seemed to be thinking over what I just said. "And then when we were filming his solo it seemed like he meant every word he was singing to me. Then for a couple brief seconds we were just standing there, staring into each other's eyes. I didn't feel awkward, but I didn't feel overwhelming love for him either." I then let out an exasperated sigh.

"Aww, baby it's okay." Savannah hopped on the bed next to me and put her arm around my shoulder. "Just see how things work out over the next couple of weeks or so. This is the first time seeing him in three years, so you're bound to have plenty of feelings floating around all over the place." Savannah was always good at helping me with my boy troubles. Even though she was younger than me by six months, she could always comfort me like a mom.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. You're always so helpful." I gave Savannah the biggest smile I could, so big that my cheeks were almost closing my eyes.

"I noticed you didn't tell Harry your little secret." Damnit, Rachel just had to be a Debbie Downer. While Savannah was my loving mom, Rachel was my nagging mom. I gave her an annoyed glare.

"No I didnt," I said as my teeth grinded against each other. "I never found the right moment."

"Oh my gosh! You spent the entire day with him!" Rachel exclaimed.

"That doesn't mean that every moment was the right one!" I exclaimed back at her.

"If you don't tell him, I will." Rachel warned.

"Fine. I'll tell him at dinner tonight." I said sounding like a teenager talking to their nagging parents. "On a different note, what's up with you and Niall?" Savannah let out a loud oooooh next to me.

Rachel immediately started to blush as usual. "We just met! I don't know him that well!"

"You sure seem to get along pretty well." Savannah said with a cheeky grin.

"We do get along well." Rachel said innocently. "He's really nice and funny and his hugs are amazing!"

"Ohhh his hugs!" Savannah and I moaned in unison. We went on a tangent about Niall's hugs for far longer than we should have. Somehow we had talked about his hugs for a good ten minutes. We realized that we only had twenty minutes left until the boys came to pick us up. We each scrambled through our suitcases looking for something to wear. Rachel had dozens and dozens of outfits in her suitcase she was looking through. We were gone for a week and a half yet Rachel packed almost her entire closet. She was a very indecisive person, especially with clothes. She ended up choosing to wear a cute beige dress that cut off mid thigh. It had intricate lace all over the top half of the sweetheart neck dress. On her wrists she had thick white bengal looking bracelets. To finish it off, she had on tan high heel sandals and a white Coach clutch purse. The whole outfit gave Rachel a beautiful glow since white makes her look tanner.

Savannah was far more decisive than Rachel in terms of clothing, and she knew exactly what she wanted to wear to dinner. She had on a casual strapless black dress with a belt to hug the dress close to her sexy curves. Her dirty blonde hair was up in a casual yet sophisticated bun so that you could see her shiny heart shaped earrings. To finish it off, she had on black gladiator looking heels and a black and white sequined clutch purse.

Being the simplistic person that I am, I did not pack nearly as many clothes as Rachel and Savannah. Having only a couple dresses in my suitcase, I decided to go with a simple blue one. It cut off just above the knee and had a low cut V-neck. I decided wearing my Rainbows would be too casual, so I put on a pair of black gladiator flats. I tied my hair to the side in a fishtail braid that Savannah had done for me. As I looked in the mirror one last time, my phone vibrated with a message from Harry saying they were in the lobby. Savannah, Rachel, and I hurried out to the elevator to head downstairs. When the elevator doors opened once we were in the lobby, all I could see were five dashing lads waiting to take my two best friends and me out for dinner.

"Wow, you ladies look beautiful." Harry said as he walked up to me to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"You guys don't look too bad yourselves." I commented back. Harry was wearing a white shirt with a V-neck just as deep cut as my dress. I could see his muscular chest which was so toned. Over his shirt he had on a navy blue blazer which added a bit of sophistication to the outfit. Louis was wearing a white dress shirt, navy trousers, and suspenders. I never thought anyone could pull off suspenders, but Louis Tomlinson sure can. Niall was wearing a white shirt with a navy blue cardigan over it which Rachel was going gaga over. Simple, but effective. Zayn had on a long sleeved blue plaid shirt with khaki pants. Last but not least was Liam who had on a grey T-shirt and a sporty black jacket. Even though Liam wasn't the "bad boy" of the group, he looked pretty badass to me.

"I'm starting to get hungry, let's go eat!" Niall suggested. At that, we all left the hotel and crammed into their van.

"Where are we going to dinner?" Rachel asked Niall who was sitting next to her.

"It's a surprise." Niall said with a grin.

"Aww come one, pleaseee?" Rachel pleaded with her puppy dog eyes. She absolutely hated surprises.

Popping up from his seat behind them was Louis blurting out quite seriously, "If he tells you, he might just have to kill you." Rachel rolled her eyes at both of them and giggled.

Deciding to let Rachel and Niall get their flirt on, I turned to Liam who was sitting next to me. "How are you liking California so far?" It seemed like I had taken him out of a daydream or something since he was blankly staring out the window.

"California's great. It's really beautiful and so sunny. It's also just really nice to get away from things when you're at the beach."

"Things like what?" I could see a hint of pain appear in his eyes when I asked this.

"Nothing, just stuff." Liam answered back distraughtly.

"Is it Danielle?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" he looked surprised that I knew about their break up.

"Niall kind of told Rachel, Savannah, and I that you guys broke up when you stormed off during the skype call."

"Ohh, that makes sense." Liam paused for a second looking a little nervous. "Did he tell you the details?"

"No, he didn't. If you ever want to talk about it I'm here for you." I said with a kind smile. Liam looked relieved at what I had said.

"Thanks Lauren. It's nice to know that because the lads are kind of getting tired of my mopiness, so lately I've been letting my feelings out in Disney movies."

"Oh my gosh! I love Disney movies! You and I are SO having a Disney movie marathon." I exclaimed. Disney was my life since I watched all of the Disney classics as a child. Even today Savannah and I watch The Little Mermaid and Lion King regularly.

"That sounds like a great idea!" this was the first time I had seen Liam with a genuine smile on his face since I had met him. It was adorable. For the rest of the car ride we talked about everything Disney, it was one of the best conversations I've had in my life just because it was about Disney.

As our conversation was ending the van pulled up to a restaurant called Cafe Beaujolais. My mom had been there before and raved about their food, Niall would be happy. We all hopped out of the van, went into the restaurant, and were led to our table by our waiter. I noticed that people were staring at the boys and I could hear faint whispers. When we sat down at our table, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I checked my phone and I had a text from my mom.

Mom: At Cafe Beaujolais. A band called One Direction is here. Do u know who they are?

Well that's just fine and dandy isn't it? I showed the text to Rachel who was sitting next to me. After reading it, she looked at me then at Harry and then back at me. Damnit, why did this opportunity have to present itself?

"You said you would do it at dinner." Rachel whispered to me.

"Fine." I rolled my eyes at her. "Hey, Harry?" I said getting his attention.

"What's up?" he said smiling at me.

"Can we talk somewhere? I need to tell you something." Butterflies were fluttering in my stomach, but they were the bad evil butterflies that eat away at your insides.

"Umm, okay." He looked a bit confused but still got up from the table to talk to me. As we walked towards a quieter place I saw people looking at us. Did they think we were a couple? That would be really awkward. Once we found a quiet spot Harry asked, "So what did you want to tell me?" I took a deep breath and looked down at the ground, it would be too hard to make eye contact now.

"You know how I kinda stopped talking to you a couple years back?" Oh lord, I was dragging this sucker out.

"Yeah, what about it?" His eyebrows were furrowed in more confusion than before.

"Do you know why?" Why did I just ask that question? Of course he doesn't know.

"Well you said you had a lot of school work, but I don't think that's why."

"Yeah, it wasn't school work." I scratched the back of my head while still looking at the floor. I took another deep breath hoping I could make it through this without tearing up. Harry noticed my anxiety and brought my chin up with his thumb so I was looking into his beautiful eyes.

"Whatever it is you need to say, I'm right here. It's okay." I smiled then shifted my eyes back to the ground.

"The reason I stopped talking to you was because my parents got divorced and I got really depressed and didn't want to talk to anyone." I could feel my throat getting tight and tears starting to form in the corners of my eyes.

Harry pulled me in for a warm and comforting embrace. "Aw Lauren, it's okay." His comforting reassurance made me start to cry because he was so sweet. As I sobbed into his chest, he simply rubbed his hand across my back in calming circular motions.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you from the start, it's just, it's just..." Harry silenced my fumbling with a soft "Shhh" while stroking my hair with his right hand.

"It's okay. You told me now and that's all that matters." He pulled away from the hug and held my face in his hand so I could look in his eyes. "You know you can tell me anything. I'm always here for you. Always." A tear started to trickle down my face, but before it reached the bottom of my cheek, Harry wiped it away with his thumb.

"Did you know you're so amazing?" I said through my tears. "You put up with me and all the shit that comes with me and I love you for that." I brought him closer to me to hug him again.

"I love you too, Lauren." Harry said as he kissed the top of my head. We stood there for another minute or so with my head buried in his chest and his head resting upon mine. My tears had finally subsided and I felt I could go back to the rest of the group, so I pulled away from the hug.

"Thanks for listening Harry. I really appreciate it."

"No problem." he said. "You can come to me any time. You ready to head back to the table?"

"Yeah. Do my eyes look okay, or are they puffy?" I asked not wanting to look like a wreck.

"You look perfectly fine." I knew he was lying because I always looked like shit after I cried, but I was too hungry to make myself look pretty. We walked back to the table together to find everyone chatting as if we had never left. I got back into my seat which was next to Rachel and Liam.

"How'd it go?" Rachel asked eagerly. "Are you okay?" she noticed my puffy red eyes.

"It went as well as I thought it would. I ended up crying but he comforted me, and yeah."

"Isn't it nice that the weight is lifted off your chest now?" she said with an I-told-you-so attitude.

"Oh hush, you're such a mom." I said hitting her lightly on the shoulder.

"Oh, speaking of your mom, she texted you again." I gave her a weird look, how did she know I got a new text? "You left your phone at the table when you went to talk with Harry." I checked my phone and the new message from my mom said:

Scotty and I are sitting five tables away from the band. So cool. Wish u were here to see them

I frantically looked around the restaurant trying to find where my mom and Scotty were sitting. They were sitting five tables directly behind Harry who was sitting across from me. "Shit, shit, shit!" I loudly whispered trying to shield my face from being seen.

"What's up with you?" Liam asked. "If I didn't know better I would think the cops are after you."

"My mom and her boyfriend are here, and they're right there." I said pointing to where they were sitting.

"Ohh, I see. What's the problem?"

"She doesn't know I know you guys. She thinks I'm seeing waterpolo friends... who are girls."

"Tsk, tsk. Lying to your own mother." Liam tried guilt tripping me.

"Oh shut up. Now is not the time for that." I snapped at him. "Quick, give me a menu so I can hide my face!" Liam handed me a menu that was placed at the end of the table. Hopefully I wouldn't get another text from my mom saying that she saw me sitting at the same table as the boys. That would be all bad. About a minute later our waiter came back with platefuls of food.

"Derp. Harry and I haven't ordered yet." I said awkwardly to Liam.

"Oh Rachel ordered for you and Louis ordered for Harry. You thought we forgot about you didn't you?" Liam teased.

"Pshh, of course not." I said sarcastically. Once everyone had gotten their food we all dug in. Niall immediately started chowing down like no other. He looked like a vacuum the way he was sucking up every last bit of food. We had been eating our dinner for about five minutes when all of a sudden Louis started choking on one of the shrimp he was eating. He was holding his hands to his neck and it was obvious he couldn't breathe. Everyone looked at Louis and back at each other not knowing what to do. I had been first aid certified before, but that was years ago. I didn't want to be held liable for something I wasn't sure of. Right then I remembered my mom was a nurse.

"MOM! LAURIE! HELP! SOMEONE IS CHOKING!" I yelled frantically across the restaurant. Catching her attention, she looked at me surprised, but ran over to Louis despite her confusion. As soon as she reached Louis, my mom started giving him forceful back blows. Five or so back blows later, he was still choking and his face was getting pale. My mom then resorted to giving him abdominal thrusts. Thank god she did because five abdominal thrusts later, the pesky shrimp popped out of Louis' mouth.

"You saved him!" Harry exclaimed graciously. He went up and gave my mom the biggest hug he could give her. The rest of the boys joined in as well.

"I wouldn't have known he was choking if my daughter hadn't caught my attention" My mom glared at me with an angry look. I knew I was going to get in trouble for lying to her. In return I gave her a please-don't-kill-me smile. "What are you doing here missy?" My mom always called me missy when she was mad at me.

"Heh, funny story," I started. "Before you flip out at me for lying to you let me just say you wouldn't have believed me if I said I knew a world famous boy band, so I just made up something more believable."

"You know One Direction?" she looked at me with disbelief.

"Well I originally knew Harry who I met when I went to England a couple years ago." I continued to tell her the rest of the story of how I knew Harry and the rest of One Direction.

"I see, but I'm still not very happy with you for lying to me."

Before I could come back with a response, Louis interjected by saying, "I just got off the phone with Paul. I told him the story of how you saved me, and he wants to hire you as our nurse." My mom was currently unemployed, so she immediately took the offer.

"Now you can't get angry with me. I got you a job." I said snarkily. "Wait, does this mean I get to travel with you?"

"We'll have to talk to your dad, but I don't see why not." I immediately turned to Rachel and Savannah who were awestruck at what just happened.

"Oh my gosh! This is going to be amazing! Rachel, Savannah, you guys should ask your parents if you could come with me!" It would take a lot of convincing, but their parents eventually gave in to the idea (I'm getting ahead of myself).

"Wait, can we really?" Rachel exclaimed looking at Niall making sure it would be okay if we tagged along with them.

"We'd have to check with management, but as long as we say you're with Lauren's mum I think you guys would be fine." He said smiling back at Rachel.

"Ahhhh!" Savannah let out a shrill scream. "This is so exciting!"

"I don't know about you guys," Louis started. "But I'm still kind of hungry. How about we save our celebrating for after dinner?" I, myself, was hungry as well since we had only been eating for a mere five minutes before this whole situation happened.

"Yeah, I'm still starving." Zayn agreed. "How about we head back to our hotel and party it up there after dinner?" Everyone liked Zayn's suggestion, so we sat back down and finished eating our dinner. While the rest of the table was chatting away, all I could think of was how much fun traveling the world with One Direction would be.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

We had finished dinner and were now back at the hotel. We were in Liam and Niall's room and everyone but Niall, who was still nibbling on snacks in the room, was in a food coma.

"Do we have to party?" I asked grasping my food baby. "I'm down to just watch The Lion King."

"I am so down!" Savannah exclaimed. "Let's do it!" Everyone else agreed so we all piled around the TV. I sat down on the couch next to Savannah and Liam while Rachel sat next to Niall and Zayn on the floor. Louis and Harry were still standing up talking to each other.

"Why don't you two sit down? We're about to start." I suggested.

"We're gonna sit this one out." Harry said awkwardly.

"Yeah, we're gonna have a bro talk." Louis said putting his arm around Harry's shoulder.

"Okay, have fun with that." Something seemed fishy, but I disregarded it because I wanted to enjoy The Lion King. Once Harry and Louis left to go to their room Liam pressed the play button on the remote. Savannah and I always sang along to every Disney movie we watched, so when the music started we blurted out the start to "Circle of Life". My choir at school sang a Lion King medley the previous year, so I was able to harmonize with Savannah. I looked over to my right at Liam who was looking at us like we were crazy.

"You guys are so weird." Liam chuckled.

"You're just jealous of our amazingness!" I rebutted.

"Yes, I'm so extremely jealous because I'm not in a world famous boy band at all." he said sarcastically.

"You know what? You can zip your face." I said as I lightly hit his shoulder.

"Zip my face? I've never heard of that one before. This only proves my point more."

"Oh my god guys!" Savannah yelled at us. "Shut up! Some people are trying to watch the movie." Liam and I looked at each other and giggled at Savannah's seriousness. We decided to be quiet and continue watching The Lion King. As the movie progressed Savannah and I sang along to every song and added in a quote here and there. When the movie had ended I looked around the dark hotel room and noticed Niall's arm was around Rachel. Even though I couldn't see her face, I knew she was blushing. They were just too cute, I had to make this couple happen.

The credits had been rolling for about a minute when Zayn said, "Its 10:30 now, what do you guys want to do now?"

I looked over at Savannah who knew what I was about to say. "I'm down to watch another movie." Since there wasn't anything better to do, everyone else agreed to watch Aladdin. Before we started the movie, I got up to go to the bathroom.

"Lauren, I'm coming with you!" Rachel hollered as she popped up from her spot on the floor.

"Um Rachel, there's only one toilet." I looked at her weirdly. She returned my look with one that looked like she wanted to talk with me. "Okay, fine." I figured she wanted to talk about Niall, so I invited Savannah to come to our potty party.

"What's the deal Rachel? You better make this fast." I really had to pee.

"Gahh, okay. I don't know what to do about Niall."

"What do you mean you don't know what to do?" Savannah asked.

"Did you see him? He had his fricken arm around me!" Rachel had never had a boyfriend or anything like that, so this was all a little overwhelming for her.

"Do you like him?" I asked.

"I don't know! I don't like him but I don't not like him. Ugh this is so difficult!" she whined.

"Did you like his arm around you?" Savannah said.

"I guess." This came out more like a question.

"Well then get your butt back out there and see how things go." I told her, giving her the same advice Savannah gave me.

"But what if he tries to do something?" Rachel asked worriedly.

"Rachel, you've only known each other for a day. He's not going to do anything." Savannah reassured her

"Are you sure?"

"Oh my god Rachel! GTFO! I need to pee like a mother fucker!" I pushed Rachel and Savannah out of the bathroom so I could use it. Once they were out of the bathroom, I locked the door, sat on the toilet, and started singing my pee song which is a song that my choir sings in church, but with altered lyrics.

"Peeeee is flowing like a riverrrrr, flooowwwing out of you and meeeeee. Floooowwing out into the desseerrrrt, setting all the urine freeeee." Outside, I heard a roomful of muffled laughter. I think I'm pretty hilarious. When I walked out of the bathroom everyone was still laughing.

"What the hell was that?" Zayn laughed hysterically.

"My pee song." I answered back nonchalantly. "Jealous?"

"You are insane!" Liam exclaimed through his laughter.

"Don't judge. How about we go back to watching Aladdin?" I suggested. I snuggled back into my spot on the couch and noticed Rachel snuggling into Niall with his arm around her. Next to me I heard Savannah let out an exasperated sigh as she put down her iPhone on the arm rest.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I whispered since the movie was starting.

"Oh, nothing. It's just Jed, I'll tell you later. Let's just watch the movie." I was worried that something bad was happening. She loved that boy so much, he didn't realize it. I put the bad thought on the back burner of my mind and tried to watch the movie. Once again Savannah and I sang to every song and quoted at least half of the film.

"Oh my god guys, this is one of my favorite Disney songs." Liam said as the scene with "A Whole New World" started. Now I see why Rachel constantly questioned his and the rest of the boys' sexualities.

"You are aware that it is extremely sexual. Think about it. 'Don't you dare close your eyes' 'Hold your breath it gets better.'" I said ruining the song for him.

"God! Now I can never listen to that song in the same way." Liam said giving me a dirty glare.

"You're welcome." I gave him a big grin in return. We went back to watching Aladdin, but this time when "A Whole New World" started playing, it wasn't just Savannah and I singing, Liam joined in on our shenanigans. His voice was so pure and strong yet soft at the same time. It was so magical. Savannah and I decided to let Liam sing Aladdin's part because we wanted to hear his beautiful voice.

"A whole new world

A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us no

Or where to go

Or say we're only dreaming."

I jumped back into the song, singing Jasmine's part quite theatrically to Liam.

"A whole new world

A brand new place I never knew

But when I'm way up here

It's crystal clear

That now I'm in a whole new world with you." I paused listening to the composition of the chords changing. "Aghh the key change! It kills me every time!" Savannah and Rachel burst out laughing because they both knew I loved key changes. I don't know why I love them so much, but I consider them my guilty pleasure. I joined in on the laughter, laughing through Jasmine's next verse. Once I had collected myself, I started singing again.

"A whole new world,"

Liam popped back in, "Don't you dare close your eyes." he started bursting into laughter. "Damn it, Lauren! Now I can't stop thinking about what you said!" I childishly stuck my tongue out at him. The rest of the song was spent laughing like maniacs. As we settled back down and continued watching the movie, I realized I was starting to get tired. My eyelids were getting heavy and I was having trouble keeping them open. I leaned my head against Liam's shoulder, since I naturally sleep on my right side, and started to doze off.

When I woke back up, I noticed Liam's arm was wrapped around me and my head was lying on his collarbone which was surprisingly comfortable. I assumed he had fallen asleep as well because his head was resting on top of mine. I looked around the room trying to see if anyone else was awake besides me. Rachel and Niall looked sound asleep and were in the same position Liam and I were in. Zayn was knocked out sprawled across the floor of the hotel room while Savannah was curled into a compact ball at the corner of the sofa with her head resting on the arm rest. I tried to pull my phone out of my pocket without moving too much to see what time it was. I had failed because I could now feel Liam's body shifting slightly.

"What time is it?" Liam whispered in a rocky voice that everyone has when they first wake up.

"I was trying to check, but I woke you up. Sorry." I said apologetically.

"No need to be sorry, I was only half asleep." I doubted that. I bet he said that just so I wouldn't feel bad. I finally pulled my phone out to see what time it was.

"Fuck, it's 2:30." I moaned.

"It's okay, just go back to sleep."

"Are you sure? I don't want to be an unwanted guest." I felt bad that I was intruding in a way.

"It's fine, we'll be together tomorrow anyway." Liam said.

"Okay." I said reluctantly.

"Here, let me carry you to my bed so you don't have to be so uncomfortable." Liam started to get up.

"No," I moaned. "I'm fine here, there's no need to get up. You're more comfy." Liam sat back down on the sofa and put his arm back around me. I placed my head on his warm chest and closed my eyes again. "Good night Liam." I whispered.

"Good night Lauren." he whispered back placing a kiss on the top of my head.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Through my eyelids I could sense the presence of sunlight. Fuck the sun, it should die in a hole. When it comes to me sleeping, light is my worst enemy. Why didn't someone close the curtains last night? I could probably be sleeping for another hour if they were closed. There was no use in trying to sleep for any longer. I stretched out my arms and legs not remembering where I was or who I was around.

"Ow! What was that?" Liam said grogily.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Whoops! I guess I had accidentally punched him in the face.

"Ahh, it's okay. At least you hit me lightly." he said positively.

I opened my eyes and light flooded into my retinas. Dear lord, too much light in too little time. Now I remembered where I was. The last I remembered, I fell asleep on Liams shoulder which was weird because now I was looking up at his face. Oh snap, my head was in his lap. This is just awko taco to the max. I quickly got up out of his lap and sat up on the couch. From the looks of it, Liam and I were the only ones awake. I rubbed my eyes that were still adjusting to the sunlight flooding in through the windows.

"What time is it?" I asked Liam.

He slowly pulled his phone out of his pocket and said, "It's only 8."

"Seriously? It's so early!" I whined.

"You can sleep more in the bedroom if you like. I can close the curtains." Liam suggested. What a kind fellow. Whoever said chivalry was dead is an idiot.

"I would love to, but once I'm up, I can't go back to sleep."

"Why don't we get some breakfast then?"

"You're just coming up with brilliant ideas this morning aren't you Mr. Payne?" I teased. "I know of an IHOP down the street, we can go there. My treat."

"Sounds good to me. Let's go!"

"What do you want to do now?" Liam asked. We had just finished eating our breakfast. I had a plate of Swedish crepes with a side of bacon and hashbrowns, and I was stuffed.

"I'm down to just sit here until my food baby is digested." I moaned.

"We can't just sit here all day. How about we walk back to the hotel and see if anyone else is up?"

"Mehh, I don't want to move." I whined. I don't know how Liam was dealing with me right now. Even I was annoying myself.

"Come on," he said taking my hand. "I'll help you up. If you want I can give you a piggyback ride."

"If you gave me a piggyback ride you would be crushed under my weight." I was convinced this would happen because I felt so fat.

"I'm doing you a favor here. Do you want a piggyback ride or not?"

"I think I can manage walking. It will help my food baby digest." I said patting my bulging belly. Liam wrapped his arm around my shoulder and off we went to walk back to the hotel. Liam was actually a really nice guy, he was always courteous and made me feel important. Why couldn't all guys be as nice and adorable as him. I swear, Liam should give chivalry seminars to all the douchebags in the world.

"I had a lot of fun last night." Liam said as we were walking down the street.

"Yeah, me too. It was probably the most fun I've had with anyone in a long time. Well, other than Rachel and Savannah."

"I can actually say the same too." I looked over at him and saw a small smile starting to form.

"I think we should have more Disney movie marathons!" I suggested.

"But you're only here for a week and a half. How could we ever fit so many movies in so little time?"

"Damn it." I was looking forward to those movie marathons. "Wait! I'm going on tour with you guys, remember!"

"Oh yeah! I totally forgot!" Liam exclaimed. "This is going to be awesome! I can't wait." As we finished our walk to the hotel, Liam and I discussed all of the movies we wanted to watch. Our list ranged from Mulan to Peter Pan to Tangled to Tarzan. I, personally was hesitant on watching Tarzan since it scared me a little, but I was willing to bear through it. We had finally reached the hotel and were standing outside of Liam and Niall's room giggling because of our mutual excitement for our upcoming marathons.

"Shh! They might still be sleeping." I whispered.

"Okay. I'll be as silent as Mickey Mouse." Liam joked.

"You're such a dork! Just open the door." He did as I said, and to our surprise, everyone in the room was awake.

"Where did you two run off to?" Zayn inquired. "I missed my Lili."

"We got up before you sleepy heads, so Lauren and I decided to go out to breakfast"

"Liam! You went to breakfast without me? How could you?" Niall exclaimed. For a second I actually thought he was upset at Liam.

"I'm sorry Nialler, but I didn't want to wake you! How about I make it up to you and buy you lunch." Liam suggested. It was unbelievable how adorable their bromances were. It was almost like they were actually couples. Just thinking about it put a smile on my face.

"What are you so smiley about?" Rachel asked me.

"Oh, I was just thinking of all the Disney movie marathons Liam and I are going to have on tour." I decided to say that because Rachel could go on for hours about the One Direction bromances.

"What is this about Disney marathons and why am I not invited?" Savannah blurted out.

"Yeah! I want to be in this too." Rachel agreed.

"Well if you two asked your parents about going on tour then I'll invite you!"

"Oh I totally forgot about that. I'll call my dad now! Rachel, call your parents!" Savannah commanded. They both grabbed their phones, went into the bedroom, and called their parents leaving me with Niall, Zayn, and Liam.

"Have you seen Louis or Harry yet today?" I inquired.

"Nope, you can go see if they're awake." Niall suggested. "I have one of their room keys." I took the room key from Niall and headed across the hallway to Harry and Louis' room. I quietly opened the door and peeked in. No one was in the living room, so I headed for the bedroom area. Inside, I saw Harry and Louis sleeping soundly in the same bed snuggling like newlyweds. At that moment I was feeling a little mischievous, so I took a running start towards the bed and landed right on top of the two.

"Good morning!" I sang. Harry rolled around beneath me trying to maneuver my body off of his.

"Ugh, why are you so heavy?" Louis moaned.

"IHOP food baby for the win!"

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked in his morning voice which was even lower and rockier than normal.

"Niall gave me your room key." By this point, Harry and Louis had shifted around enough so I was now smushed between the two. Harry still looked mildly confused as to why I was in his room. It was adorable.

"No, why are you at the hotel?"

"Ohh, Savannah, Rachel, and I kind of fell asleep during the movie marathon and we slept the night." I answered.

"There was a sleepover and nobody told me?" Louis exclaimed.

"We would have told you, but we didn't want to interrupt your little bro talk. What did you guys talk about anyway?" Harry looked a bit uncomfortable when I said this, and Louis shifted his eyes away.

"Mmm, not much. Just bro stuff. Plus, what happens in the bro talk stays between the bros." Louis explained obviously covering something up.

"Ahh, I see. The bro code is quite sacred." I said raising my eyebrows.

"Exactly." Harry chipped in. "Now if you don't mind, could you get out so I can look decent?"

"Oh please!" I exclaimed. "All you need to do to look decent is flip your hair around and you're good to go."

"Fine, but Louis doesn't take nearly as short to look decent, so shoo shoo." Harry said, flipping his hands towards the door.

"I see how it is. If you guys don't want me here, I'll just leave." I pretended to be upset.

"That's exactly what we want." Harry said smiling. "We'll be over in a bit." With that I left Harry and Louis' room, went back across the hallway, and tried to open the door to Liam and Niall's room. I realized I didn't have a room key to their room so I knocked. Niall swiftly opened the door.

"What's the password?" he said as his body blocked the door.

"Umm, I love food?" I took a wild guess knowing Niall would accept my answer whatever I said.

"I'm sorry, the correct answer was I love Nando's, but I'll accept it." Niall then moved his body away from the doorway letting me in. As I walked inside, I saw Liam sitting all alone on the couch staring at his phone. He looked a little somber, so I decided to go over and sit down next to him.

"Hey, what's up? You look a little sad." I said.

"It's nothing. I'm fine." he said coldly still looking at his phone.

"You sure don't seem fine. You know you can talk to me." I said putting my arm around his shoulder.

"I don't really want to talk about it now." he said shrugging my arm off his shoulder. "I'll tell you later, okay?"

"Are you sure?" I inquired. It was so sad seeing someone that was so happy five minutes ago be so distraught.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Why was he being so stubborn? All I wanted to do was to help him.

"Liam, you're not fine. Can you please just tell me what is wrong?" I paused thinking for a moment. "Is it Danielle?" For the first time in the conversation, Liam looked up at me. His eyes were red, and tears were threatening to fall. Right then, I knew I was right and brought him in for a hug. "Aww, Liam. It's okay." I stroked his thick curly hair with my hand.

"No it's not. Nothing is okay." he cried into my shoulder. Everyone else in the room noticed what was happening, so I suggested we move somewhere else. I helped Liam off the sofa and led him to the bedroom. Niall and Zayn looked at me worriedly. I mouthed Danielle's name and they loosened up a bit, but still looked concerned for their friend.

Liam's POV

She broke my heart, ripped it in half, and tore it into a thousand pieces. I loved her with all my heart, and did she care? Nope. Even though it had already been two months, it was still hard to deal with. Out of the blue, she came up to me and tells me it's not working out for her and she wants to break up. I thought we were doing fine and asked her if we could work it out, but she insisted we had to break up. I desperately wanted to know why she wanted to break up, but all she said was, "I'll tell you later." I'll tell you later? Seriously? Why couldn't have she told me then? It's one thing to break up with someone, but it's another thing to not tell them why.

She never did tell me why, but I sure found out and I was staring at the reason on my phone screen. It was an article about Danielle and her new boyfriend. There was a picture on the side of the article of her and some dancer guy swapping spit. It disgusted me. I wasn't upset at Danielle finding someone else (well maybe a little bit), but what I was upset about was that in the bottom right hand corner was the date 05/25/2011. May was three months ago, and that meant that dreaded picture was taken when we were still dating. I felt sick to my stomach.

I was lying on my bed sobbing my eyes out when Lauren came into the room and settled down next to me. "Liam, what's the matter?"

"God! I feel so stupid. How did I not know it was happening? How could I be so blind?" The tears kept streaming down my face.

"Liam, slow down. How did you not know what was happening?"

"She... she..." I couldn't say it, I couldn't even think it.

"What did Danielle do?" I couldn't muster out the words, so I showed Lauren the picture on my phone. "Oh, I see." she said. "Are you upset she has a new boyfriend? Is that it?" I could tell she was confused.

"No," I sobbed. "Look at the date on the picture. It was three months ago, we broke up two months ago."

"Oh Liam, I am so sorry!" she said pulling me into a hug. "That should happen to no one, especially you. You are the sweetest person I know, and you don't deserve this."

"It's so embarrassing and humiliating and... and..." There was so much to say, but I had no way to put it into words and all I could do was cry into Lauren's shoulder. I was so grateful that she was there for me. She was such a kind and understanding person who cared so much for others. Her left hand gently stroked my back in circular motions while her other hand was placed comfortingly around the back of my neck.

"It's going to be okay." She whispered gently into my ear.

"How do you know that?" I cried.

"I just know. Trust me, it will be okay."

"Thanks for listening to my blabbering." I said with tears still running down my face.

"Hey, it's not blabbering. What you are going through is really tough, and I understand how you feel. I'm just glad I'm here for you."

"Me too." I sniffed. "You can go now, I think I'm okay now."

"You sure don't seem okay. I'm not leaving until you are done letting it all out. You're completely unstable right now, and I'm here to keep you balanced until you are okay." For the next half hour we laid in my bed, me crying on her shoulder and her comforting me no matter what.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Lauren's POV

After thirty minutes of comforting and consoling Liam, he seemed okay (for now) so I told him to go clean up and take a shower. Meanwhile, I headed back out to the living room area. When I exited the bedroom I noticed two things, Harry and Louis were over and that everyone's faces looked extremely worried. I could tell they all cared so much for Liam.

"What happened Lauren?" Zayn asked. It was so cute how he was so protective of Liam.

"I don't know if it's for me to say."

"Come on Lauren please? It will be days before he tells us." Niall urged.

"Yeah, and he kind of thinks we're sick of his complaining." Harry added.

"Fine." My voice then dropped down to a whisper. "Danielle cheated on him." Everyone's eyes opened twice as wide as they normally would and their jaws dropped. They were gobsmacked.

"How do you know?" Zayn asked. "Is there proof?"

"Yeah, there's an article about Danielle and her new boyfriend and there's a picture of them kissing."

"That doesn't prove anything." Niall interrupted.

"You didn't let me finish. Anyway, the date on the picture says its from May when they were still dating."

"No! Whyy?" Louis whined. "He's the sweetest lad I know! He doesn't deserve this."

"That's what I said." I admitted.

"Well, is he okay?" Harry inquired.

"He took it really hard at first," I started. "But now he's okay. For the moment at least." I looked around the room and didn't see Rachel and Savannah anywhere. "I hate to change the topic, but where are Savannah and Rachel?"

"They're in our room." Louis answered. "They're still talking to their parents about the tour shenanigans."

"Oh, right." Knowing their parents, it would take at least another hour to settle this all out. I sure hoped they would be able to come.

"Are you okay?" Harry inquired as he walked towards me. "You look a bit distraught."

"Oh, I'm fine. I'm just thinking about Liam." His face had an interesting look on it. He seemed understanding, but there was something else. Was it jealousy? It couldn't be.

Harry wrapped his arm around me bringing me closer to him. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"I sure hope so. He was really upset."

"Hey," Harry said squeezing my shoulder. "How about we watch some happy TV to take our minds off of things." That actually sounded quite appealing, so I agreed to his suggestion. We both ploppled down on the sofa and Harry turned on the TV. After a couple minutes of browsing through the channels, we realized that there was nothing good to watch at 11 o'clock on a Sunday morning, so we turned off the TV and ended up talking. He told me about his experience on the X-Factor and everything that happened in the past year. I was so proud of him for making a name for himself. Who knows where he would be if he hadn't tried out. I ended up telling him about what happened in my uneventful life over the past two years. Even though what I was telling him wasn't that interesting, Harry seemed to be hanging onto every word I said. I'm pretty sure I could read the phone book and he would still listen to me like I was telling the most intense story in the world.

I could tell Harry really liked me and I felt really bad about it because I didn't even know how I felt about him, especially after last night at the restaurant. I could tell him anything and no matter what, he would be there for me. He was always so nice and treated me like a princess, but also like one of the guys at the same time. If I was a guy, I would definitely be his bro, but I have no idea what I am to him as a girl. I have no idea what I want to be with him. I love him as a friend and a brother but I don't know if I want to be more than that. Ugh, fuck this, I'll think about this later. Right then, I heard the shower squeak off in Liam's room. I realized I needed to tell him that I told the rest of the boys about what happened. I got up from the sofa and knocked on his door.

"Hey Liam, can I come in?"

"No, I'm in a towel! Are you crazy?" he said very embarrassed.

"Liam, I've seen hundreds of guys in speedo swimsuits. I think I can handle a towel." I knew Harry would be curious to find out how this happened, so I made a mental note to explain that.

"Just a minute! I'm putting on a shirt." I found it incredibly cute how Liam was so modest. He definitely had one of the best bodies in the band and wanted to hide it. About twenty seconds later he opened the door letting me in. "What's up?"

"I told them about Danielle." I said feeling incredibly guilty.

"What? Why?" He yelled in a whisper.

"When I came out of your room they all looked so worried and I had to."

"I would have told them!" I could tell Liam was getting pissed at me.

"Really? Because Harry felt you wouldn't have told them since you think they're tired of your mopiness. Liam you have no idea how much those boys care about you."

"I guess you're right. But I'm still mad at you." he said grumpily.

"Well that's all I had to say. I'll get out now." I said starting to open the door.

"Lauren?" Liam said.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks again for being there for me."

"No problem." I smiled gently at him. I headed out the door into the living room where I was greeted by Harry who was still sitting on the sofa.

"Hundreds of guys in speedos? What is this blasphemy?" he asked inquisitively.

"I knew you would ask about that." I smiled. "I play waterpolo remember? I see guys in speedos almost everyday."

"Ohh, that makes sense." Harry paused. "What did you talk to Liam about in there?"

"I just told him that I told you guys about Danielle." I answered.

"That would be a smart idea since Zayn and Niall are probably going to bombard him with hugs." About a minute later Liam came out of his bedroom and Niall and Zayn came up to him as Harry and I thought they would.

"I'm so sorry man," Niall started. "You don't deserve this at all. You know what? I'll pay for lunch today, okay?" Liam was caught a little off guard, but still smiled and Niall's gesture.

"She doesn't deserve to ride on the roller coaster of life." Zayn said. "She doesn't even have admission into the amusement park."

"Aw, thanks. I love you guys." Liam said bashfully. I decided I would let the boys bro it out, so I went across the hall to Harry and Louis' room to check up on Rachel and Savannah. As I had expected, they were both still on their phones. Savannah was sprawled out on the sofa with her head hanging over the armrest while Rachel was sitting down with her head face down on the table in front of her. They both looked incredibly miserable. As I closed the door, I got their attention and gave them a look asking how things were going. Savannah rolled her eyes back and formed her hand into a blabbering mouth. I knew it would take a while to convince Savannah's dad. I looked over to Rachel who formed her hand into a shotgun and pointed it at her head. Oh Lord, I hoped this would work out.

"Hey guys, want to go clean up and get some lunch with the guys." I whispered. We hadn't planned this yet, but I knew they wouldn't mind.

"Can't you see we're on the phone?" Rachel whispered back holding her hand up to the phone mic.

"Just come with us and you can talk to your parents in a little bit. It will give them time to think about it." Rachel then raised her eyebrows at me and gave me an acknowledging finger point.

"Hey, mom? I need to go now, can we talk in a little bit? Okay, bye." Rachel said. Savannah did the same with her dad. Once they were both off of the phone, we all headed back to Liam and Niall's room. Liam answered the door when we knocked and let us in.

"Do you guys want to go grab some lunch soon?" he asked.

"I was just about to ask you that." I said.

"Great minds think alike." Liam joked.

"Indeed they do. But first, is it okay if you guys drop us off at our hotel so we can clean up a bit?"

"No, you are our prisoners! We are holding you hostage." Louis interjected.

"Um, no. I don't think so." I shot back at Louis giving him some sass.

"Of course you can get a ride back." Liam started. "Let us walk you down to the lobby." All five of the boys then walked us to the elevator and came with us down to the lobby where their driver met us in the front drive. They all gave us hugs and kisses on the cheeks good bye.

"Where and when should we meet?" Harry asked.

"Just call or text me and we can work it out." I answered. With that the three musketeers were off to go back to their hotel. "So how is the tour thing going over with your parents?" I asked Rachel and Savannah.

"At first my parents were completely against it, but I think they might be warming up to it." Rachel explained.

"My dad is going to need a lot more convincing until he even starts to warm up." Savannah started. "The one thing he does like about this plan is that your mom is coming with us."

"Well, let's keep our fingers crossed." I said hopefully while crossing my fingers. Five minutes later we arrived at our hotel and an hour later, after everyone showered and got changed, we were ready to have lunch.

"Niall is starving guys." Rachel said urging Savannah and I to hurry up.

"How would you know that?" I inquired.

"I kind of got his number last night." she blushed.

"Oooh gurrrl! You got his numba?" I said obnoxiously in my ghetto black girl impression. "You be gettin' some tonight!"

"Oh my gosh, stop! You're so embarrassing!" Rachel exclaimed.

"You should be thankful we aren't out in public." I laughed. "Savannah! Are you almost done yet?"

"I'll be out in a minute guys." she yelled from the bathroom. Her voice sounded a little shaky. Rachel and I went over to the bathroom door which was locked.

"Baby, what's wrong?" I asked.

"It's fucking Jed."

"Oh heck naw! If he hurts you Lauren and I will whoop his butt!" Rachel threatened.

"Savannah, what happened?" I asked again.

"He's all mad because Drew hella likes me and I don't know what to do." her voice was starting to get shakier. Drew was one of Savannah's best guy friends and one of Jed's best friends so this was obviously a problem.

"Ooh..." Rachel and I said in unison.

"Do you like him back?" Rachel inquired.

"I don't know. I still love Jed, but it's just really complicated." I could tell Savannah was getting frustrated with herself.

"Aw, Savannah. It's gonna be okay. How about we forget about Prince Harry and have a fun lunch with the boys." I suggested. I heard a sigh come from the other side of the bathroom door, and seconds later Savannah came out. Rachel and I greeted her with hugs and assured her that everything would turn out just fine. A couple minutes later we left our room and headed downstairs to get my car. On the elevator ride I texted Harry.

Me: Hey wanna meet us at in n out burger? its hella good

Harry: Sounds quite sexual ;) i bet its good

Me: Lol its good alright... and quite saucy ;)

Harry: Now I'm questioning whether this is a burger joint or a sexual innuendo...

Me: Haha its a burger joint... were leaving the hotel now. meet us in 5ish min?

Harry: sounds good :)

The vallet attendee had just pulled up with my car and in a matter of seconds Savannah, Rachel, and I were off to In-n-Out. When we arrived, we noticed the place was jam packed which was usual for this time of day. Shit, how was this going to work out? It would be impossible for people not to recognize the boys. I pulled out my phone to text Harry again.

Me: In n out is packed... meet us at the beach. well eat there

Harry: u sure? we dont mind crowds

Me: I dont either but i dont wanna start any rumors ya know

Harry: gotcha. headed to the beach now :)

Once inside the restaurant, we waited for about ten minutes and we finally ordered and after an additional ten minutes of waiting, we got our food. I felt like a total fatass walking out of In-n-Out with five bagfuls of food. The three of us hopped back in the car and headed towards the beach. When we arrived, the three of us were swarmed by five hungry savages. They dug into their burgers and within five minutes all of the food was devoured.


	15. Chapter 15

Thank you all for reading, I really appreciate it! Apparently you can't have real person stories on the site so the admins have asked me to take my story down :( If you want to read more go to **one direction fan fiction . com** (no spaces) and look up Take Me to Another World by stewboo.I have all of my chapters posted on there.

I probably delete the story in a couple of days so I hope you all read this before then!


End file.
